Vampire Weekend -- which performs at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater Monday night -- is not your typical indie-rock band. The group is composed of four guys from Columbia University in New York who have a healthy obsession with literature and African pop and classical music, and it's reflected in their quirky yet sophisticated sound.

Lead singer and guitarist Ezra Koenig talked to The Miami Herald about being dubbed by Spin magazine as ''The Year's Best New Band,'' performing on Saturday Night Live and looking forward to visiting Miami Beach for the first time.

You guys had to bow out of the Langerado Music Festival in early March because Saturday Night Live beckoned at the last minute. Was that a difficult choice?

``Yeah, it was a tough decision. We cancel shows very infrequently and try not to. It's unfortunate that [SNL] asks you at the last minute -- it'd be nice to know way in advance.''

What was that experience like?

''It was really cool because being in this live show with all these comedians, the vibe is not as professional as other shows. There was this kind of ``school play'' feeling with everyone running around and being hectic, but it was really good meeting all the people on the show.

Did the Spin magazine accolade shock you?

``It didn't shock me, because we'd already kind of gotten used to people making proclamations like that. And in some ways, we were feeling a little tired of them, because most people make up their own minds about who they think the band of the year is. So there's a negative effect if you're a music fan and you hear over and over again, this is the best band of the year, this is the best band of the year. That just kind of invites the haters. We're not scared of exposing our music to a lot of people. . . . But it's toward the breaking point with this whole predicting the next great band thing -- that doesn't really help us in any way. But anytime someone says something like that about you, despite its negative consequences, you have to take it as a compliment.''

What can we expect from your show on Monday? Any new material?

We have some new material, and it's extremely rare that we play a show and don't play at least one or two new songs. But the truth is at this point, we have one album. So our sets are pretty short, but we try to keep it interesting. We play everything we've got and try to keep it energetic.

You've never visited Miami. What are you most looking forward to about it?

``I'm vaguely interested in architecture, and I'm far from an expert, but I've seen pictures of the old Art Deco hotels and that's a time period I'm very interested in. I've always had a vision of Miami being a city with a very unique style, architecturally and in terms of fashion.''

-- MICHAEL

HAMERSLY

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