Cover of Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend
Cover: Vampire Weekend

Song · Vampire Weekend

“A-Punk” by Vampire Weekend

From the EP Vampire Weekend (2007)

“A-Punk” by Vampire Weekend appears on 44 radio countdowns from 26 stations between 2008 and 2026. It was first released in 2007 on the EP Vampire Weekend. Its best result is #6 on the Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2008. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #21 alternative song of 2008, #4,337 alternative song of all time and #387 of the '00s.

44countdowns
26stations
#6best position
0#1 finishes
2top 10 finishes
2008–2026years charted

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Video from YouTube (XL Recordings). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"A-Punk" came out early in 2008 as the second single from Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut, and it's a burst of preppy mayhem: skanking guitars with a surf-rock twang, a pogo beat and synths playing at being a flute. Ezra Koenig wrote the words, the band shares the music credit, and Rostam produced it and helped engineer and mix it with Jeff Curtin and Shane Stoneback.

It was the song they picked for their network television debut, on the Late Show with David Letterman. Critics went for the bouncy drive and the bright little sonic touches, even the ones who thought the album had stronger songs, and Koenig's inventive lyrics gave it a buzzing charm all its own.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2008 51 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2008 106
2008 48 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2008 91
2008 6 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2008 105
2008 96 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge's Top 102 Songs of 2008 102
2008 38 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2008 88
2008 44 KFMA Tucson, AZ KFMA Top 50 Songs of 2008 50
2008 15 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 of 2008 94
2008 19 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2008 103
2008 12 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2008 51
2008 43 KWOD Sacramento, CA KWOD Top 106 Songs of 2008 106
2008 33 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2008 107
2008 55 Lightning 100 Nashville, TN Lightning 100 Top 100 Songs of 2008 100
2008 29 WXPN Philadelphia, PA WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2008 100
2008 15 88Nine Radio Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI 88Nine Radio Milwaukee Top 100 Songs of 2008 100
2008 9 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2008 136
2008 32 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2008 100
2009 80 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2009 101

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2009 74 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 2009) 101
2009 24 WYEP WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade 913
2009 490 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 326 WYEP WYEP 913 Essential Songs 913
2011 1847 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1352 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 69 BBC Radio 6 Music BBC 6 Music 100 Best Tracks Of The Last 10 Years 100
2013 93 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) 885
2014 1127 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 880 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) 885
2016 598 WYEP WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 913
2018 17 WTMD WTMD Listeners' Top 897 Songs, 2003-2018 896
2019 263 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2019 128 WYEP WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 1017
2019 128 WYEP WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 1099
2019 309 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2020 1878 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2022 85 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s 907
2022 1029 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time 1055
2023 241 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2024 330 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century 1055
2024 97 WXPN WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) 885
2025 12 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century 909
2025 30 The Current 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now 893
2025 26 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) 714
2025 773 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800
2026 857 KXT KXT 917 Song Countdown 917
2026 667 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Also listed as: A-punk; A Punk.

Charting alongside it in 2008

Best songs of 2008 →
  1. 1Sex On FireKings of Leon
  2. 2Viva La VidaColdplay
  3. 3I Will Possess Your HeartDeath Cab for Cutie
  4. 4Pork And BeansWeezer
  5. 5Let It DieFoo Fighters
  6. 6HumanThe Killers

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