When Chris Baio announced his plans to release a debut album back in April, we were promised “Bowie and Ferry-influenced pop songs and dumbsmart arena techno.” The former seemed feasible; the latter sounded like a night out with Nathan Barley. What none of it sounded much like was Baio’s main band, Vampire Weekend. The New York four-piece have certainly worn their influences on their sleeves, spending formative years cherry-picking from Afrobeat as much as European indie rock, while managing to carve out a unique sound of their own. What remained to be seen was how the bassist would marry his own diverse musical passions.
Matthew Neale 