Vampire Weekend Release New Song, Head to Long Beach

Esther White

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Are you ready for the latest (er, first?) wave of early 2008 nostalgia? Vampire Weekend is back!
Whether or not you give a fuck about an Oxford comma, Vampire Weekend have unleashed "Horchata," the opener of their sophomore release Contra (out January 12). Seeing as how their self-titled 2008 debut was one of the most critically acclaimed and hipster-ubiquitous records of the latter-half of the aughts, this is sort of a big deal and all that.

Also a big deal: Vampire Weekend are spending about two weeks in our great state (stemming from a strong California influence in Contra, as singer Ezra Koenig has mentioned in recent interviews, any classic video game influence on Contra remains unclear), including a date at the Art Theater in Long Beach on November 2. Primarily a movie theater, the Art Theater holds concerts from time to time--like Greater California's album release show this spring--and it's usually very cool when it does, so this is pretty much as much of a no-brainer as concerts get.

The song itself fits right in with "classic" Vampire Weekend, though it does hint towards slightly more complicated arrangements but with the same distinct vocals and quirky lyricism. So that's an "all good" from over here. It's available as a free download on their site; go ahead and listen to it already!