Vampire Weekend on Elvis

[invisible Pole]

Full interview : http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/arc ... _chris.php

Excerpt :

How many people in the band own a copy of Graceland?
I think we all do.

And how many own a copy of the Smiths’ first album?
I would say three-quarters of us.

Who’s missing?
Our drummer [Chris Tomson].

It’s pretty much writers and reviewers and interviewers who bring up Graceland and The Smiths, but it seems the band, particularly Ezra and Rostam, often summon Elvis Costello and Squeeze.
That’s definitely true. I think that stuff’s coming way more from us than anywhere else.

So what’s your favorite Costello album?
Which is the one with “Watching the Detectives” at the end? My Aim is True? Is that what it is? My Aim is True is the first one, right?

Yeah, My Aim is True is the first one.
Is there anything that we as listeners can pick up from the Costello connection? Is there anything about Elvis Costello that directly informs the Vampire Weekend sound?
We’ve talked about it before. We feel like “Oxford Comma” definitely has an Elvis Costello feel. I think there are some ways that you can see an influence in like Ezra’s vocal delivery. I think that he’s sort of like internalized a little bit of Costello in there.