"A-Punk" is a song by

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson ...

, released on February 28, 2008 as the second single from their 2008 self-titled debut album. The band made their network television debut by performing "A-Punk" on the '' Late Show with David Letterman''.

Critical reception

Mark Richardson of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' described "A-Punk" as having a "spunky drive, pogo-inducing rhythm, and subtle but hugely effective sonic accents" and said that "while solid, tisn't one of the stronger songs on ''

''". '' Drowned in Sound'' writer Alex Denney, commented that "A-Punk" was not the best song from their debut album due to it being "a little too uptempo to let their disarmingly clever melodies breathe", but stated "for the flute-aping synths and bottled-sunshine guitars alone you need this in your life." The review from Greg Rose of '' Gigwise'', was mixed. Rose said that although the song lacked originality, it "manages to sound unique" due to the lyrical inventiveness of lines by Ezra Koenig such as, "His honor drove southward seeking exotica/cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas", which were described as being "perky" and gave the song "a buzzing zip." In reference to "A-Punk", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' writer Ben Blackmore, said, "Do believe the hype." "A-Punk" is widely regarded as one of the band's best songs. '' Paste'' and '' Far Out'' ranked the song number five and number one, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Vampire Weekend songs. In October 2011, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' placed it at number 62 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

Commercial performance

The song peaked at number 55 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number 25 on '' Billboard'' magazine's

Hot Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart. The single also reached #6 on the ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart. Though it never reached the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the single was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in July 2013, making it the band's first gold single. On October 27, 2008, Vampire Weekend re-released "A-Punk" in the UK, in the hope of achieving a higher Chart placement on the

. However, "A-Punk" only managed to peak at number 63, which was less than the placement at number 55 earlier that year. The single continues to be sold over the years. In 2019 it was certified Platinum in the US and in the UK. In 2020 it achieved platinum certification in Canada.

Music video

The music video directed by

Garth Jennings Garth Jennings (born 9 July 1972) is an English director, screenwriter and actor. Films he has directed include ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', ''Son of Rambow'', ''Sing'', and ''Sing 2''. He co-founded the production company Hammer ...

, that was said to convey the song's "spiky energy," used footage of the band performing as sped up stop-motion figures, simulating winter and underwater scenes during the performance. Despite the band being sped up, they "never miss an upstroke beat." The video made its worldwide premiere on January 7, 2008 on MTV2's '' Subterranean'' indie video block.

Track listing

# "A-Punk" # "Oxford Comma" (Rehearsal version)

Personnel

Vampire Weekend *

Ezra Koenig Ezra Michael Koenig ( ; born April 8, 1984) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and internet radio personality. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of indie rock band Vampire Weekend. Additio ...

* Rostam Batmanglij * Christopher Tomson *

Chris Baio Christopher Baio (born October 29, 1984) is an American musician, best known for being the bassist for the New York City-based indie rock band Vampire Weekend. He also releases as a record producer under the mononym Baio, and his debut solo albu ...

Technical *

Emily Lazar Emily B. Lazar is an American mastering engineer. She is the founder, president, and chief mastering engineer of The Lodge, an audio mastering facility that has operated in New York City's Greenwich Village since 1997. She won a Grammy Award for ...

– mastering * Rostam Batmanglij – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

Use in other media

The song is featured in the video games ''

Lego Rock Band ''Lego Rock Band'' is a music rhythm game developed by TT Fusion in partnership with Harmonix and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the 4th major console installment of the ''Rock Band'' series; it incorporates elements ...

'', ''

Guitar Hero 5 ''Guitar Hero 5'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero V'') is a 2009 music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released internat ...

,'' ''

Guitar Hero Live ''Guitar Hero Live'' is a 2015 music rhythm video game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the seventh main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, X ...

'', ''

Just Dance 2 ''Just Dance 2'' is a 2010 dance rhythm game developed by Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Milan and published by Ubisoft. The game was released exclusively for the Wii on October 12, 2010, in North America and in Australia and Europe on October 14, 2010 ...

'', '' SingStar Guitar'', the 2008 film '' Step Brothers'', the 2010 film ''

Furry Vengeance ''Furry Vengeance'' is a 2010 American family black comedy film directed by Roger Kumble, produced by Robert Simonds and Keith Goldberg, written by Michael Carnes and Josh Gilbert, co-produced by Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi and Ro ...

'', and the UK television shows ''

The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television teen sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 until 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager ...

'', '' Love Island'' and ''

The Wrong Door ''The Wrong Door'' is a comedy sketch show, that first aired on BBC Three on 28 August 2008. The programme is the first comedy show in which the majority of the sketches include CGI elements. As such, it was produced under the working title of ...

''. It is also used in the second trailer for ''Peter Rabbit''. It is also featured in the shows '' Reef Break'', '' Superstore'', '' 90210'' and '' Friday Night Lights''.

References

External links

''Vampire Weekend'' on XL Recordings
- Album page on record label's site
"A-Punk" music video
- as provided by record label on YouTube {{authority control 2008 songs 2008 singles Vampire Weekend songs XL Recordings singles Songs written by Ezra Koenig Songs written by Rostam Batmanglij Songs written by Chris Baio Songs written by Chris Tomson