Precocious Pop Circa 2008

There will be no other controversialy hyped band in 2008 than Vampire Weekend, four Manhattan Ivy Leaguers whose self-titled debut album will either have you jumping up or slamming your CD on the floor. What we have here are a bunch of guys who grew up with Paul Simon's Graceland, but don't know much about the South African guitars that they are sampling. Somebody even mentioned Haircut 100. Which I think was a put-down. None of this is bad because the songs are good. And short. The album clocks in just above 30 minutes and its breezy sound wafts right over you, even though the lyrics try for something more. Eventually, they'll grow out of this sound, and do a proper Indie Rock album. But for now this is the sound of precocious Pop circa 2008.