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In the Post #96: Vampire Weekend premiere new track ‘Unbelievers’ on American late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live

Just as the world’s eyes turn to America in the wake of the general election, everyone’s favourite American indie pop superstars Vampire Weekend are back with a new song, ‘Unbelievers’. The band premiered the song on American late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live on Halloween night, dressed as skeletons.

The guitars don’t seem to have changed a bit; they’re still played with that boyish, bounciness that gives Vampire Weekend that unique edge. Erza Koenig’s voice still sounds like a young boy who’s feverishly anticipating puberty, and with the youthful exuberance that this song centres on, it works brilliantly.

Rostam Batmanglij’s quick fire pianos keep the minimalistic track going brilliantly, while various percussion bits, ably provided by engine room Chris Tomson, are just toe-tappingly good. The song’s bounce continues throughout into a number, which could easily do what ‘A-Punk’ did and be the standout track of festival season next year. It might be a rash claim, but I’m willing to back it.

Vampire Weekend managed the difficult second album ‘Contra’ without missing a beat and songs like ‘Giving up the Gun’ and ‘I Think Ur a Contra’ showed an added maturity from the band. They weren’t just there for the big bouncy summer tunes like ‘A-Punk.’ Nope, they’re about the long run. And ‘Unbelievers’ is just the start of what is going to be a very successful and interesting few months for Vampire Weekend as if the rest of the album is up to this standard. We just could be seeing these New Yorkers topping the U.S. charts again.

8/10

Watch Vampire Weekend’s live performances of ‘Unbelievers’ and debut album opener ‘Oxford Comma’ below. Ezra Koenig filled fan Web site Team Vampire Weekend in on their work progress, saying “We’ve been working like maniacs for a long time. The time [until the album release] is not so far away, we promise. So we’ll just hang tight to hear further from the Vampire Weekend camp then.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSeKa8VVWdM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQvM6bdYrrM[/youtube]