Watch: Vampire Weekend Go Goth

Vampire Weekend
"Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
Director: Richard Ayoade

Before people started poking fun at Vampire Weekend for their pastel Polo shirts and pink sunglasses, they poked fun at their name. "Vampire Weekend?! Sounds like a goth band!" was the running joke. Of course, Vampire Weekend are as gothy as Robert Smith is preppy. In this video, the Columbia grads acknowledge the haters while making fun of their own straight-laced image — it's a tremendously self-aware piece of satire. Once again recalling the manicured film style of Wes Anderson, the video follows lead singer Ezra Koenig (done-up in an ace '80s 'do) as he tries to win back his black-clad girlfriend after she catches him singing lusty come-ons to the prom queen. Dark powers and an extreme makeover ensue and, as far as plot-driven clips go, "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" is perfectly slight and campy (even if Koenig's acting skills are distractingly amateur). And we have to wonder: Could the amazing look they rock at the end of the video be the start of Vampire Weekend's mystical Wicca phase ...