Pitchfork

New York's Vampire Weekend have been building up quite a buzz lately. Pitchfork's Mark Richardson recently praised their Afropop-influenced style of skinny-guitar indie-rock, comparing it to everyone from Young Marble Giants to Paul Simon. Last month came news the quartet of Columbia University grads had signed to long-running imprint XL, where their new labelmates include M.I.A., Dizzee Rascal, and Devendra Banhart. Pretty good for a band that self-released a debut EP earlier this year.

Ah, but have you heard Vampire Weekend singer Ezra Koenig as a joke rapper? Under the nom de rap of L'Homme Run, Koenig teams with Andrew Kalaidjian to spit goofy rhymes over the beats of "multi-instrumentalist/broski Christ 'CT' Tomson." It's pretty over the top: "When I see a long black hair in the shower, baby girl, it feels just like you're at home," they sing over new-wave synths on "Interracial Dating". "Bitches" breezes past menstruation jokes and ends in Hot Chip-like falsettos. "Pizza Party", the only track available as a download, is an old-school joint with a memorable catch phrase: "If you got a blunt, then we can get high." Finally, "Giving Up Da Gun (Demo)" is a melancholy bit of violin-assisted electropop, the best-- and only serious-- song here. XL might not be asking Koenig to rap anytime soon, but at least he's got a sense of humor.

Stream:> L'Homme Run: Various Tracks
[The Vampire Weekend EP is available from Vampire Weekend]