Pitchfork

Most rock bands get their first gigs in beer-soaked basements, run-down apartments, crumbling urban houses, or sweaty, empty venues. But for the Vampire Weekend boys, it all started here-- in an arts society dorm building at New York's Columbia University. Just a few years ago, the young New York four-piece was playing parties in this distinctly ivy-scented communal area, the centerpiece of which is a taxidermied moose head allegedly killed by Dwight Eisenhower (with his bare hands, we're sure).

On a late January afternoon, one day before their debut album hit stores, the band came full circle, regrouping in the Upper West Side building to discuss and perform their songs, including "A-Punk", "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa", and "Oxford Comma"-- complete with a Julliard-trained string section.