Vampire Weekend track listing
"Mansard Roof" "Oxford Comma" "A-Punk" "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" "M79" "Campus" "Bryn" "One (Blake's Got a New Face)" "I Stand Corrected" "Walcott" "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance"

"A-Punk" is a single by indie rock band Vampire Weekend, released on February 28, 2008 as the second single from their 2008 self-titled debut album. The band made their network television debut by performing "A-Punk" on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Mark Richardson of Pitchfork Media described "A-Punk" as having a "spunky drive, pogo-inducing rhythm, and subtle but hugely effective sonic accents" and said that "while solid, [it] isn't one of the stronger songs on Vampire Weekend".Drowned in Sound writer Alex Denney, commented that "A-Punk" was not the best song from their debut album due to it being "a little too uptempo to let their disarmingly clever melodies breathe", but stated "for the flute-aping synths and bottled-sunshine guitars alone you need this in your life." The review from Greg Rose of Gigwise, was mixed. Rose said that although the song lacked originality, it "manages to sound unique" due to the lyrical inventiveness of lines by Ezra Koenig such as, "His honor drove southward seeking exotica/cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas", which were described as being "perky" and gave the song "a buzzing zip."Prefix magazine writer, Jeff Klingman, said the song's "cool organ breeze and a shifting drum beat save the day", preventing "too much snark from being slung at their New York Times featured, digitally distributed exclusively by Other Music, Columbia University, golden boy asses." In reference to "A-Punk", The Times writer Ben Blackmore, said, "Do believe the hype."

In October 2011, NME placed it at number 62 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

The song peaked at #55 on the UK Singles Chart and #25 on Billboard magazine's Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single also reached #6 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. Though it never reached the Billboard Hot 100, the single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in July 2013, making it the band's first gold single.

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Wikipedia