Vampire Weekend is an indie rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and signed to XL Recordings.rnContentsrnrnVampire Weekend came to public attention via a variety of blogs, first Canadian Matt Yanchyshyn's African and world music audioblog "Benn loxo du taccu", and then six months later on Stereogum. The band is influenced by both African popular music and Western classical music. They describe their genre of music curiously as"Upper West Side Soweto", performing such songs as "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa", which references Congolese soukous music.rnrnThe members of the band met while attending Columbia University; they then self-produced their first album after graduation while concurrently working full time jobs. Lead vocalist, Ezra Koenig, and drummer, Chris Tomson, first collaborated as members of the comedy-rap band "L'Homme Run".rnrnThe band takes its name from a film they made together with members of the band Ra Ra Riot entitled Vampire Weekend. The film told the story of a boy named Walcott charged by an elder to dispatch a vampiric horde in Cape Cod and escape. The song "Walcott" from their debut album details the plot of the film.rnrnIn 2007, their hit "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" was ranked 67th on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of the year as they toured the United Kingdom with The Shins. They were declared "The Year's Best New Band" in the March 2008 issue of Spin magazine and were the first band to ever be shot for the cover of the magazine before releasing their debut CD.