When I hear the word ‘indie’ in relation to genre chances are the intro to ‘A-Punk’ will be playing in my head. That’s because this album, and that song in particular, introduced me to indie as more than just a word I still don’t fully understand. I love this album, and it was a breath of fresh air when I heard it back in 2008. ‘Vampire Weekend’ was a revelation when it was released and it was a style of music I wasn’t familiar with, and I grew to love it instantly. I sat down and listened to it today, and everything I remember admiring about it came back to me, from the Peter Gabriel reference in ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’ to the violins on ‘M79’.

‘Vampire Weekend’ is packed with charm and charisma, being unique and clever. It’s quirky lyrically and instrumentally, and that’s what I like the most about it. It isn’t necessarily a serious album, but needs to be taken seriously as a result of its quality. It’s uniqueness was something I picked up on instantly five years ago, mainly as a result of Ezra Koenig’s vocal delivery and the mix of styles the record contained, taking influences from world music and other genres. Sure it isn’t perfect, mainly because of weaker tracks like ‘One (Blakes Got A New Face)’ and ‘I Stand Corrected’ but it helped characterise a genre single handedly, for me anyway, and it’s a shame that their new album earlier this year was disappointing. Tracks such as ‘Campus’ and ‘Walcott’ are still songs I listen to regularly and it’s rare that I value a debut album so highly.

Here, I have an album that played a monumentally part in developing my music taste and expanding my horizons. For me it remains one of the most definitive indie albums I’ve ever heard, and it seems a fitting place to start my throwback posts.