Vampire Weekend

Mixing elements of erudite indie rock with Afro-pop, ska, hip-hop, '80s pop, and additional styles, Vampire Weekend played a central role in shaping indie music's sonic identity beginning in the 2000s. They laid the groundwork for their energetic, word-rich approach on the self-titled 2008 release, then rapidly progressed from blog darlings to mainstream hitmakers, becoming the first indie outfit whose two successive albums—2010's Contra and 2013's Modern Vampires of the City, which earned their inaugural Grammy—both debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Across every record, the group expanded their core aesthetic by incorporating fresh textures and concepts, weaving jam-rock and psychedelic soul through expansive explorations of twenty-first-century daily complexities on 2019's Father of the Bride while capturing recollections of an earlier New York City era in the intricate, layered soundscapes of 2024's Only God Was Above Us.

Vocalist/guitarist Ezra Koenig, drummer Chris Baio, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, and bassist Chris Tomson connected during their final years at Columbia University. They launched Vampire Weekend in early 2006, drawing from Koenig and Tomson's prior hip-hop project L'Homme Run. The band's name originated from a short film Koenig created during the summer after his freshman year; they initially performed at campus literary societies and social gatherings. In 2007 they put out their self-released eponymous EP along with the "Mansard Roof" single via Abeano Records and the "A-Punk/Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" single on Free News Projects. Blog acclaim secured multiple slots at that year's CMJ Music Marathon, after which Vampire Weekend secured a deal with XL Recordings. The label reissued "Mansard Roof," prompting the band to track their debut album across venues that included a barn, their own apartments, and Brooklyn's Tree Fort studio.

Released in January 2008, Vampire Weekend ranked among the year's standout indie efforts, landing inside the Top 20 on both U.S. and U.K. album charts before achieving Platinum status in each territory; at the same time, the singles "A-Punk" and "Oxford Comma" registered on charts in both countries. The group then spent nearly two years on the road, during which Batmanglij collected further recognition through an album with Discovery, the electro side project he shared with Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles. Vampire Weekend reentered the studio to cut their follow-up, Contra, which surfaced in January 2010. Bolstered by the singles "Horchata" and "Cousins," the set opened at the summit of the Billboard 200 and received a Grammy nod for Best Alternative Music Album. Contra later earned Gold certification in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, plus Diamond certification across Europe.

Toward the end of 2011 the band resumed studio work on their third album alongside Ariel Rechtshaid, who shared production duties with Batmanglij. Songwriting and recording took place at New York's SlowDeath Studios, Hollywood's Vox Recording Studios, and Batmanglij's New York apartment. Koenig characterized the material as a darker, more organic collection; Modern Vampires of the City appeared in May 2013. Matching Contra's chart performance, it entered the Billboard 200 at number one—establishing Vampire Weekend as the first independent-label rock act to achieve consecutive number-one debuts—and captured the 2014 Grammy for Best Alternative Album. It too attained Gold certification in the U.S., U.K., and Canada.

In early 2016 Batmanglij revealed his departure from Vampire Weekend while noting he would still perform with the group on occasion. That same year the band commenced work on their fourth album, enlisting Rechtshaid, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Danielle Haim, and Dirty Projectors' Dave Longstreth. Early in 2019 they issued several song pairs, among them February's "Harmony Hall" and "2021," ahead of the double album Father of the Bride, which arrived that May on Columbia Records' Spring Snow imprint. The set reached the top of the Billboard 200 and earned nominations for Album of the Year plus Best Alternative Music Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Vampire Weekend enlisted jazz saxophonist Sam Gendel and jam band Goose to craft expansive new renditions of the Father of the Bride track "2021"; the resulting 40:42 surfaced, fittingly, in 2021. While preparing their subsequent album, the band released live vinyl documents from Father of the Bride performances as Frog on the Bass Drum Vol. 1 and Frog on the Bass Drum Vol. 2. Only God Was Above Us, issued in May 2023 and co-produced by Koenig and Rechtshaid, evoked late-1990s and early-2000s New York City through its noisy experimental pop.