Partyin' Like It's 2008

2008 was a pretty good year for music for me. Vampire Weekend's debut album basically owned it, alongside Tokyo Police Club's debut Elephant Shell; I also discovered Band of Horses that year. It was a good time.

Today I felt a random inclination to jam to "Oxford Comma." I remember not liking it a lot when I first heard it. I mean, I liked it, but I much preferred "A-Punk," "Walcott," "Mansard Roof," "One (Blake's Got a New Face)," and "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance." I would listen to it but throughout its entirety feel antsy to hit the back button and listen to "Mansard Roof" again, or skip forward to "A-Punk."

But then the music video was released and -- see, I have a disorder known as Video Affection Syndrome. Once a song has a video accompaniment, whether it's a video or a commercial, I immediately love it more. That's what happened with "Oxford Comma." I loved the video SO MUCH that immediately my liking for the song grew and grew and grew. It's not like it's some random video, either; I legitimately love the "Oxford Comma" video on its own. Shot in one take, I find it fascinating, cool, and fun.

Check it out and I hope you have a reaction as (positively) strong as I did the first time I saw it, three years ago.



P.S. I just found out that the video was directed by Richard Ayoade, who is the amazing IT Crowd and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace actor and occasional director of such things as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Heads Will Roll" and the latest episode of Community, the great one with the My Dinner with Andre/Pulp Fiction send-ups. Awesome!