Track 1: Mansard Roof- Right from the start, VW shows off its signatures, interesting mixes of strings and percussion, and for the first track, works excellently. This light-hearted, nonsensical song is an easy and accesible transition that helps the listener get into the VW state of mind. If you don't like this song, it is likely you will not want to listen to the rest of this CD.

 4/5

Track 2: Oxford Comma-  Weekend starts strong with Mansard Roff, and then follows up with one of the best songs on their album. The lyrics aren't very cryptic or deep, but, their mildly clever, even if they don't make much sense. They even fit in a Lil' Jon reference, not bad for 4 white guys from Columbia

 5/5

Track 3: A-Punk-  Currently VW's biggest single, and for good reason. Once again, as is theme for the album, they use a simple instrumental backdrop to frame the lead singer's voice, which is very good. By track 3, you should have an excellent idea about what Vampire Weekend is about, fun., light hearted, and enjoyable

 5/5

Track 4: Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa-  Start to get the feeling that this album might get repetetive. As a track, this song is excellent, yet is very similar to the first 3. Very well done though, and for that, it deserves a 5.

 5/5

Track 5: M79-  Personally my favorite song of the album. Excellent use of a mini-string ensemble, piano, percussion, and a simple guitar riff. VW doing what they do best, using instrumentals to emphasize Ezra Koenig's voice, who again sings a laid back tune with intermissions of strings and percussion.

5/5 

Track 6: Campus- Obviously a song about college life, but right from the start, this song is just kind of boring. From the dull opening guitar riff, to the dreary lyrics in the beginning, this song is just a swing and a miss.

 2/5

Track 7: Bryn- Uh-oh, falling into aslump here. Another unimaginative, boring song that shows none of the charm that the first 5 tracks showed... Good thing it's only 2 minutes

2/5

Track 8: One(Blake's Got A New Face)- Damn.... 3 mediocre songs in a row. This one is slightly better, but it takes to long to get interesting. His shouts of "Blake's Got a New Face" are reminiscent of the joy that seemed so long ago... ending exactly at Track 5.

2.5/5

Track 9: I Stand Corrected- Vastly different from the rest of the son mood-wise. A slower, softer, less joyful song. Does a good job of picking up the pace after the boring first 30 seconds. 

3/5

Track 10: Walcott- A well played song, with the return of the piano and strings work well, but still, the care-free attitude that worked so well earlier in the CD is missing. But this time, maybe it isn't a bad thing. The only thing missed is Ezra's gleeful-sounding high pitched yelps that worked so well earlier in the CD.

3.5/5

Track 11: The Kids Don't Stand a Chance- I was hoping for Vampire Weekend to end their first CD with a bang, a return to their former glory of half a CD ago, yet I was hugely dissapointed. In my opinion, the most boring song on the CD leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth to what started off as an excellent and promising CD.

1/5

Final Thoughts- For a CD that has been in production since 2006, you would think they would have done a better job of mixing the CD. The first 5 tracks are all superb, which gave me high hopes for the rest of the CD, but for the most part, the last 6 tracks were unmemorable and unimpressive. Still, don't give up hope, for a Freshman effort, this new band showed great promise.

Average Song-  3.5