Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof

Their press release quotes trumpet them as being 'New York's favourite new band', but i'm not quite sure of Vampire Weekend yet. They've certainly got a lot going for them; young, New York, hip (tours with Animal Collective, Clipse, Dirty Projectors), but from the two songs I've heard I'm not quite clear on what their schtick is yet. However as they're supporting The Shins over here v. soon, I thought i'd put the songs up for you to hear anyway. Like Dirty Projectors they go for a symphonic, multi-directional sound, but definitely remain far more rooted in conventional NY Velvets jangle than the bands listed above. The single, Mansard, has some nice Brix-era Fally keyboards, and skips about playfully, never really settling into something coherently epic (not that thats a problem of course, it depends what they're after!) Track two below is interesting, with some nice strings that remind me of early Pulp. However there's a bit too much mediocre ska-a-like Strokesy jangle going on, so i'm not totally satisfied. So yes. See what you think, and we'll wait for the LP!

Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof
Vampire Weekend - Ladies Of Cambridge