Vampire Weekend Backlash at SXSW

The lines to see the band perform; the shit-talk happening behind the band's back (and, sometimes, to its face; at least one heckler showed up at Antone's to rib the band by yelling "Fuck Vampire Weekend!" fairly loudly during its set); the somewhat gimmicky, cutesy sound are all adding up to a pretty big backlash heading Vampire Weekend's way. Are blogs really going to risk credibility by continuing to boast about Vampire Weekend? Why? There's an unknown slowcore trio from Toledo that no one else has heard about. Are snarky teenage record store clerks going to champion their now-aged disc? Not now that the band has a video on MTV. "Oh, you're looking for that Vampire Weekend CD? Excuse me while I roll my eyes."

You could see this happening in Austin this weekend. It was evident everywhere you looked. It was impossible to miss.

Assuming you're not completely soulless, part of you has to feel a little bad for Vampire Weekend at this point because, really, we've heard their story before. Remember Clap Your Hands Say Yeah? You know, the darlings from South by Southwest in 2006? No? Maybe? A little? They were Vampire Weekend before Vampire Weekend was Vampire Weekend: distinct vocals, gimmicky sound, good-time vibes, the whole nine yards. Now, the real question: Did you know that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah released the follow-up to their 2005 debut in 2007? Yup, they did, and it was critically panned pretty much across the board.

You get where I'm going with this? OK, I'll spell it out for you: Blogs killed the buzz band. They blew it up months before South by Southwest, the traditional big coming-out party. They made South by Southwest less about the discovery of music and more about the bashing that so often runs hand-in-hand with it. They, in praising Vampire Weekend, all but set up Vampire Weekend's death this past week.

And that's how South by Southwest has changed. It used to be the birthplace of the buzz. Now it's the home of the buzzkill.