In the promotional video for their new song “Diane Young,” Vampire Weekend — already pissing off hipsters for helping Guy Fieri craft the menu for his upcoming Brooklyn restaurant — set fire to two 900-series Saab cars (the track begins: “You torched a Saab like a pile of leaves”), drawing the ire of automobile enthusiasts everywhere, especially on Jalopnik. “Vampire Weekend Are a Bunch of Dicks,” writes Patrick George, adding:
Here’s the best-case scenario I was hoping for when I saw that Vampire Weekend torched some Saab 900s for their new “Diane Young” music video: I was hoping that the two 900s were old, decrepit, maybe found in a junkyard or damaged beyond repair in Hurricane Sandy, and that they were being sent to a better place. This is apparently not the case, and the real story will upset you a great deal.
Jalopnik reader tgx4776 found the Facebook page for CBR Towing, the company that hauled off the two Saabs to their final, fiery destination.
And guess what? Those weren’t busted-ass cars at all. They were deeply loved by their owners who wanted to see them go to a nice new home. The old owners were completely unaware of the cars’ fate. (Via)
Vampire Weekend’s frontman Ezra Koening responded to the “controversy” as if it was a real controversy.
“I want people to understand that we do respect cars and the last thing we want to do is to fuck up a collector’s item or something like that,” Vampire Weekend singer Ezra Koenig tells Spinner. “Hopefully people believe me when I say that our record label was looking to purchase the cheapest, oldest cars possible; they weren’t trying to buy a beautiful perfect condition car.”
In fact, Koenig claims, his songwriting partner and group multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij has a special affinity for the now-bankrupt Swedish automaker.
“Rostam especially loves Saabs,” Koenig claims. “When he grew up his family drove a Saab.” (Via)
That’s the car version of playing the “I can’t be homophobic; I know this one gay dude” card. Anyway, VW should be used to these kind of kerfuffles by now — English teachers have been threatening to burn down their recording studio ever since “Oxford Comma” became a hit. One more “NO NOT LIKE THE VAMPIRE WEEKEND SONG,” and they’re gonna do it.
