While I no longer consider myself a Vampire Weekend fan, December 1st has been permanently engraved in my head as "drinking horchata and looking psychotic in a balaclava" day from my tenure as an indie tumblr girl. Back in the day, us Vampire Weekend fans would descend upon twitter and tumblr in a frenzy, posting nonstop about balaclavas and vying for the attention of Ezra Koenig.
| This is an account I made just for the occasion. I was very proud of the amount of attention it received. Also note the cursed arzE profile picture. |
|
Making this post was a little fraught for me. Modern Vampires of the City was my go-to album during my freshman year of high school; it was on repeat constantly as I scrolled through tumblr, did homework, and perused
Rookie Mag (RIP). But, the association is now soured after reading Tavi's
brilliant essay in The Cut where she describes the abusive relationship she had with Ezra. It felt like all the reasons why I liked Vampire Weekend in my early teens—they were feminists, they valued their fans, they sang about obscure intellectual things like Angkor Wat rather than objectifying women—were ripped away, and I don't I'll ever be able to fully enjoy their music again. Now that I am far more jaded and cynical, I don't think I'll ever fall for the parasocial trap of stanning a band like I once stanned Vampire Weekend, but I had to learn that lesson somehow I suppose.
Aesthetically, during the height of my Vampire Weekend obsession, I was very into pale blogs, indie blogs, and vintage blogs, which are somewhat at odds with each. I guess Vampire Weekend best fits the "vintage blogger who wears beanies and carries a 35mm camera with them at all times" trope, but pale bloggers were the ones posting racy photos in balaclavas and in Vampire Weekend shirts (strong NSFW warning on that last link, FYI).
I'll never be able to go back to the days when I listened to Oxford Comma as good luck before my English test or earnestly fangirled on tumblr about Ezra's Babar jacket selfys, but it's good to be reminded of where you came from and what you once loved, even if it stings a little.
 |
| Bonus Ezra selfy due to a certain war criminal dying the other day |
No comments:
Post a Comment