I also thought Vampire Weekend’s popularity would quickly expire. The whole “WASP” joke was too gimmicky to last. But they’re continuing to evolve, it seems, with a new album and some fresh singles, and one, Horchata, immediately made me think of Animal Collective. It is, of course, a much much simpler and more pop-friendly song than what AC produces, but this is really what I thought when the music drops at 17 seconds in.

HearYa has an MP3 up.

It’s an okay song, though the lyrics are mostly meaningless. Here’s an excerpt:

In December, drinkin horchata
I’d look psychotic in a balaclava
Winter’s cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
Years go by and hearts start to harden
Those palms and firs that grew in your garden
Falling down and nearing the rose beds
The roots are shooting up through the tool shed
Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went
Are shouting up through cracks in the pavement

Here comes a feeling you thought you’d forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Oh you had it but oh no you lost it
You understood so you shouldn’t have fought it

I suppose I’m to be impressed that Vampire Weekend knows what horchata is. “Wow! Vampire Weekend drinks horchata! I drink horchata! I must be awesome!”…etc.

God I’m a cynical bastard.