Vampire Weekend Announce 2010 Tour Dates, Stream New Album, Discuss Phish

Vampire Weekend is back in 2010 with a new album and a slew of tour dates throughout the U.S. and Europe. Their new album, Contra, is now available for streaming in full on NPR, the band’s website, and their MySpace page. They’ve just begun making the rounds with the new material, including a live take of “Cousins” on Letterman last night:

Vampire Weekend – “Cousins” on David Letterman 1/5/10 HD 1080p [YouTube]

Pitchfork is also featuring the band in the latest “Juan’s Basement” video segment. The segment includes a a few live/in-studio performances and an interview where their drummer discusses being a Phish fan and getting to meet Fishman backstage at a recent show. It’s nice to see some of the indie rock darling bands admit they’re Phish fans. Good s***.

So for some reason I really don’t want to like this band. Perhaps it’s all the hype and hoopla they got when they first broke out, or maybe I just picture tons of teenage girls swooning over frontman Ezra Koenig when he yelps and sings falsetto. But I can’t help it, I like their sound. It’s just super catchy pop-rock, and I love the West African-tinged guitar-work no matter how derivative it may be of Paul Simon’s Graceland-era sound. I still frequently listen to their first album, and I’m already digging some of the tunes off of Contra (like “White Sky” and “Diplomat’s Son”). Unfortunately, I missed my chance to grab tickets for any of their NYC shows….anybody got my extra? ;)

Vampire Weekend 2010 Tour Dates:

01/12/10 Tue Henry Fonda Theater Los Angeles, CA
01/17/10 Sun United Palace Theatre New York, NY
01/18/10 Mon Webster Hall New York, NY
01/19/10 Tue Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
02/05/10 Fri De La Warr Pavilion Bexhill-on-Sea, GB
02/07/10 Sun Corn Exchange Cambridge, GB
02/08/10 Mon Manchester Apollo Manchester, GB
02/09/10 Tue Leeds Academy Leeds, GB
02/10/10 Wed Birmingham Academy Birmingham, GB
02/12/10 Fri Newcastle Academy Newcastle, GB
02/13/10 Sat Glasgow Barrowlands Glasgow, GB
02/14/10 Sun The Picture House Edinburgh, GB
02/16/10 Tue Brixton Academy London, GB
02/17/10 Wed Brixton Academy London, GB
02/19/10 Fri Astra Berlin, GER
02/20/10 Sat Gloria Theater Cologne, GER
02/21/10 Sun Uebel und Gefaehrlich Hamburg, GER
02/22/10 Mon AB Box Brussels, BEL
02/24/10 Wed The Paradiso Amsterdam, NL
02/25/10 Thu Olympia Paris, FRA
02/26/10 Fri Bikini Toulouse, FRA
02/27/10 Sat Sala Penelope Madrid, ES
02/28/10 Sun Teatro Circo Price Madrid, ES
03/14/10 Sun Edmonton Event Centre Edmonton, AB
03/15/10 Mon MacEwan Hall Ballroom Calgary, AB
03/16/10 Tue The Wilma Theatre Missoula, MT
03/18/10 Thu In The Venue Salt Lake City, UT
03/19/10 Fri Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
03/20/10 Sat Bud Light Spring Jam Aspen, CO
03/22/10 Mon First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
03/23/10 Tue Riverside Theater Milwaukee, WI
03/25/10 Thu The Riviera Theatre Chicago, IL
03/27/10 Sat Tennessee Theatre Knoxville, TN
03/29/10 Mon Lifestyle Communities Pavilion Columbus, OH
03/30/10 Tue The Sound Academy Toronto, ON
04/01/10 Thu Orpheum Theatre Boston, MA
04/02/10 Fri Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
04/03/10 Sat DAR Constitution Hall Washington, DC
04/05/10 Mon Ryman Auditorium Nashville, TN
04/06/10 Tue Orange Peel Asheville, NC
04/08/10 Thu The Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
04/09/10 Fri House of Blues New Orleans, LA
04/10/10 Sat Stubb’s BBQ Austin, TX
04/11/10 Sun House Of Blues Dallas, TX
04/13/10 Tue Marquee Theatre Tempe, AZ
04/14/10 Wed Fox Theater Pomona, CA
04/19/10 Mon Fox Theater Oakland, CA