Geeks might be too strong a description, but there's something indefinably preppie, perhaps even bookish, about the way Vampire Weekend carry themselves. They're a sociable bunch, and the gang mentality that all naturally formed bands possess is very much in evidence, yet you also imagine that none of the time the quartet spent in education at New York's Columbia University – the Ivy League college where they met – was wasted. It's this scholarly aspect that sets them apart from their peers.
Congregating in a dressing room at Edinburgh's Bongo Club around 11pm on a Sunday night, the band are about to play their last show of a very productive first European tour. They have completed four support dates with The Shins (three in the UK and one in Paris), their song "Mansard Roof" has been named Radio 1's single of the week, and press interest has been building up steam ahead of their debut album's release in February.
Sitting down to a late dinner before they take to the stage, singer and guitarist Ezra Koenig, bassist Chris Baio, drummer Chris Tomson and keyboard player Rostam Batmanglij (all 23) reflect on the experience. "It's all been going pretty well," says Tomson between mouthfuls. "Those [Shins supports] were some of the biggest shows we've ever done, and opening for someone else isn't something we've done often, either. But all in all, The Shins were really nice guys and you could
