I think of videos like Vampire Weekend’s “Diane Young” as sharing the same vein as LCD Soundsystem’s “Drunk Girls,” with nothing particularly harmful, or overtly glorifying, but objectively silly, and God love ’em for it.
In the single-room vid, the band sits besides dance, rock and pop brethren Santigold, Chromeo, Sky Ferreira, Despot, David Longstreth (Dirty Projectors) and others at the Indiest Last Supper Ever. Odd shenanigans like smoking a sax bong and kissing an espresso-maker ensue. Conceptually, they plot their theater around the absurd, and here, perhaps by the lyrics “out of control but you”re playing a role.”
The clip was directed by “Primo Khan,” who has no other video credits, though an equally intriguing anagram yields Ram Pink Ho, so there’s that. The label only responded that Primo is “new to the game.”
“Diane Young” is from Vampire Weekend’s new album “Modern Vampires of the City,” which HitFix reviewed here. “Diane Young” is also one of 25 of our 2013 Summer Songs picks.