Fresh Blood

Save room for dessert & save the music.
Through March 31, Houlihan’s will donate all proceeds from sales
of mini desserts, up to $25,000, to Vh1 Save the Music Foundation.
So eat your mini dessert. Because a little goes a long way.

mini hot chocolate cake | mini bourbon pecan pie | mini snickers crunch
mini white chocolate banana cream pie | mini crème brûleé | mini menu at www.houlihans.com

TIME WAS WHEN FANZINES, college radio stations, DIY touring, and, well, magazines like Spin were the keys to promoting spanking-new indie rock. Bands like Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, and Pavement all benefited from this loose but dedicated support network, which helped spawn careers that often spanned ten years and a half dozen albums or more.

Nowadays, thanks the Web’s blinding immediacy, blogs (and Spin.com) may be where much new music gets buzzed-about and discovered. But the attendant churn rates and changing priorities of the gatekeepers mean that an artist’s shelf life can end up unfairly diminished. With MP3s being posted and passed around like so much manna from demo heaven, is it any wonder that by the time a debut album comes out, a band may already be forgotten? What happens when the flavor of the day becomes yesterday’s news? And how can bands better equip themselves to survive such daunting odds and enjoy a meaningful run?

In this month’s cover story, Andy Greenwald profiles fast-rising blog favorites Vampire Weekend, whose debut album of infectiously jaunty Afro-inflected pop manages to make good on the prerelease buzz and strongly suggests they could break out of cyberspace and into the real world. Greenwald also explores the blog-band phenomenon, which makes it easy for even the greenest of artists to get noticed but more difficult than ever to sustain interest. In our hyperaccelerated culture, this is yet another area where, to quote noted cultural critic (and pop-star spouse) Heidi Klum, “one day you’re in, the next you’re out.”

Someone forgot to tell that to Stephen

Malkmus. In this issue’s Spin Interview, the former Pavement frontman, who currently leads the Jicks, proves that a long-term career in indie rock can be entirely viable and uniquely rewarding.

Hope you enjoy the magazine.

Doug Brod

Editor

FROM TOP: MAT T JONES; ERICNO WELS.COM