It’s hard to conjure up a band in recent memory that’s managed to lasso more pre-release buzz than this quartet from the Upper West Side. The only blogosphere event that comes close may be the blitzkrieg of press surrounding Annuals’ debut Be He Me in 2006. Vampire Weekend’s eponymous debut isn’t the indie lightning rod to the system that Be He Me was but it certainly breaks down some unyielding genre walls.Regardless, Vampire Weekend’s “Upper West Side Soweto,” as coined by their leader, Ezra Koenig, is serpentine to the last. From start to finish the recent Columbia grads’ album shed balmy African/calypso pop, classical uprightness and new wave slight-of-hand like snakes ”“ snakes that wear nautical shoes. This isn’t anything novel to anyone. The band’s name is a continual opening line of comparative negation to Vlade the Impaler or gothic music for musical journalists. With all the rankled anti-fans swarming the Internet, the upper-crust musicians don’t waste time muffling them. 'Mansard Roof' is a catchy tune with dotted spritzes of notoriously maligned reggaetón. An opening track that throws a biscuit towards French architecture and possibly the 1982 South Atlantic naval skirmish between the UK and Argentina belies Koenig’s assertions that his band are not preppy academics. Despite their collared shirt image and tight classical structuring on each song, the album doesn’t sag with pretension. It’s looseness comes primarily via Christopher Tomson’s punk drumming. This is especially true on standout track 'A-Punk'. It’s the spiky tribalism of the streets rubbing elbows with that of Africa. Throw in a lithe flute riff and the band’s love of hip hop’s collage aesthetic enough to dance, hop, or head-bop to. Classical strings bob and weave throughout 'M79', a song about a bus and 'Campus', which details a clumsy co-ed romance. The spirit of Paul Simon’s Graceland is hard to ignore on 'Cape Cod Kwasaa Kwasaa', which is titled after the Congolese style. Beyond Simon’s African transmogrifying you can’t help but hear the new wave/African alchemy found XTC’s English Settlement. Tomson’s clattering polyrhythms are also a little Remain in Light-era Talking Heads. 'Oxford Comma' lazy day Calypso keyboard buttresses Koenig’s voice as he sings about not giving “a fuck about an Oxford comma, I’ve seen those English dramas too”. The song’s collegiate winks somehow pull off in the end. Vampire Weekend don't throw too many curve balls on their debut but that’s the kind of territory for escaping sophomore slumps or rectifying losses on third outings. Despite this, there aren’t many dull moments on a disc that is this exuberant about making music. The oscillating organ on 'I Stand Corrected' is the subtle dark point on an album that feels like a tropical breeze blowing through your ears. Case in point: 'Walcott' pounds a brilliant piano racket and then morphs into the stately harpsichord roving on closer 'The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance' - it feels like a perfect fit.  The group's effortless pan-cultural leanings are even slighted by Koenig himself on a refrain from 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa': “But this feels so unnatural/ Peter Gabriel too”. Their appropriation feels altogether natural though. With their debut clocking in at 32 minutes this young band’s (all are 23-years-old) Western approach hits hard and fast. Yes, sometimes academics aren’t subtle. 90%Links Vampire Weekend [official site] [myspace]