Vampire Weekend is blowing up pretty big here on the West Coast thanks largely to their heavy rotation on indie 103.1 as of late. I’m actually pretty glad to know that the midwest is getting some exposure to them as well. Bless Myspace. Their Self-Titled Album is full of upbeat ska/island-influenced Brooklyn hipsterness. The singles “A Punk” and “Mansard Roof” are a good place to start of course. Despite being a slim 4-piece band, the record is full of tasty bite-sized classical string arrangements; i’ll be inclined to check them out live to see what they do to supplement this small but crucial part of their songs. This album is either a bit schitzophrenic or just a lovely little paradox. Its simple, yet lush; its very chill, but gets pretty dancable. This album is very, very East Coast with songs like “Boston”, “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and “Walcott”; maybe this will gain some points for the East Coast to make up for how lame the last Interpol record was.

My fav. song so far seems to be the last track on the album “The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance”.

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The “band” from the other coast you should check out is Coconut Records which is the product of Jason Schwartzman (formerly of Phantom Planet, actor: Rushmore, I ? Huckabees). His album Nighttiming is also very cute and accessable yet twice as schitzophrenic as the Vampire Weekend Record. It does some heavy borrowing from a very traditional alternative sound, dare I say even Weezer-esqe at times? I said it. And don’t forget I also said “at times” because please note that this album has a bit of an identity crisis, not that its necessarily a bad thing. Then again, I haven’t met an actor out here yet that wasn’t half nutters. So far the banger for me on this record is, “Minding My Own Business” and the current single “West Coast” which has a very similar taste to Phantom Planet’s “California” (which is admittedly still my first morning alarm). If you want the “If you like ____ then you’ll like this album” then i’d say Rilo Kiley/The Elected fans will definitely dig it. Its important to note that some of the gems on this record come from the talents of Zooey Deschanel (who is beyond gorgeous) and also Kirsten Dunst (who was hovering around me during the Stooges set at SXSW last year and in person looks like Gollum). This album is short (maybe 30-40 mins?) but sweet as Schwartzman has left out a lot of the pointless intros and excessive choruses that seem to be clutter up all too many recent “indie” records. He stretches for the cred, but not too far and comes up successfully with a very genuine piece of work.

Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s have been named one of Spin’s bands to watch this year. I caught their performance at SXSW last year and it blew me away. I have long ago been hardened by the malaise of catching way too many shows but the magic was definitely there with these guys. Its a little folk with a touch of the indie orchestra. Most of what I was told about them consisted of rumors that someone heard while staying at their Indianapolis commune (of sorts). Half truths like: “They have bunk beds stacked to the ceiling and sleep 9 to a room.”, “They all fuck” and the best was “Their percussionist is always TRIPPING!” During the live show his very energetic and interpretive dance seemed to be evidence enough to support that claim.

Rumors or no, the fact is that they are amazing on record as well as live. Get their 2006 album, “Dust of Retreat” Another one is coming soon (being finished as we speak).