I can't believe THAT is the song that you like by them. I love there style, and I dance around to them in my underwear every other time I clean my house (so like 3 times a week lol).
They are all such talented musicians on their own, and together they have an awesome unique sound. If you want to listen to boring drawl that's the same as every other bland song then fine, but I personally like something with personality and flare.

Replying to Sorrel:
It's funny that my opinion is pretty much opposite of yours. I'm not that big a fan of that mellow Reggaeton sound they have. I like Reggaeton, but not when it's some weird hybrid...which I don't see as unique, just unpopular. They do have personality in some of their videos though which is nice to see. I just don't hear it as much in the music. And where's the "flare" you speak of? They seem to be very drum based, and they have no solos and few deviations from melodies (At least from what they've released) Not that I hate it, it just doesn't do anything for me most of the time. But this song, at least showed that they do have some talent.

Alamir, it's not reggaeton. That's like... Daddy Yankee. They are more afropop/afrobeat influenced, which actually is pretty unique. Not many people have caught on to that particular influence within popular Western music.

Also, i don't think your argument about lack of solos really matters to anything. A lot of times, rambling solos just seem pretentious or gratuitous. I think that Vampire Weekend writes really tight pop songs that keep your attention. They're not Led Zeppelin - that's more the style you're describing (solos, deviations from the melody, guitar based...) and they certainly don't want to be.

Replying to NatalieC:
My point on solos was that it was a clear sign of what I would call "flair" ...Sorrel said they have it, and I don't hear it. Flair is something that deviates from a beat and their music is pretty repetitive and drum based. Which is why I and (I think they themselves call it reggaeton.) It sounds reggaeton. It sounds like a mild version of Bedouin Soundclash type stuff. I know others call it a hybrid of "afropop" and "reggaeton" and wondered if I should include that but I just don't hear anything that makes me feel like designating it as Afropop. So I'll keep it at "mellow reggaeton by a bunch of NY kids." Here's some Afro-pop: ..you hear those barely African sounds in it? (I use the word barely because most of the sounds are from a synthesizer). Anyway, I don't think Afropop itself is that unique either... pop is pop. I can play a bunch of Iranian-pop or X-culture-pop and it's all just traditional music put to a synthesizer...hardly unique. I prefer the traditional stuff of any culture.

Ok let's get this straight- Reggaeton uses the Dem Bow rhythm -- (Doom dadaChik!) and this VW song does not use that beat. The reference to Afro-pop is closer because of the guitar scale the lead singer uses (da da da da da da dadadada da) and it seems to reference balafon/guitar melodies from Highlife music like Tony Allen/ Fela Kuti. You could even say it's like calypso melody

The video above is a red herring it seems, meant to divert attention from the classification problem above, but I’m taking the bait. The truth is people don't know how to use these category terms. They are used by historians and journalists to pigeonhole something that resists categorization so sympathy is in order, but we can get better information out here. It isn't just an arbitrary thing calling it reggaeton or afro-pop or yourmommasspoonsolos or whatever. Afro-pop refers more closely to South Africa, where, as we all know, they do not use drums the way the West Africa or North Africa does. In fact, they use stringed instruments and voice, focusing on melody and harmony predominantly, featuring polyphonic arrangements, as opposed to the polyrhythmic arrangements of Guinea or Senegal.

But to say this music is not AFRICAN enough is just plain ig'nant. What would reggae be without the drum machine or the electric bass? This music fits in with South African style of doing this with an emphasis on the melody/harmony/call-response. Plus it's called a fusion; look at the video, what do you expect? Drum dominance, I suppose. Should African music all be played on goatskin djembes or be relegated to pop?

Calling something 'African' music is ridiculous in a continent that big with so many styles. It would be like calling Creole music and Inuit throat singing 'North American' music. Pop is not pop, that's an absurd reduction, because music resists these broad classifications. We need to be more careful listeners and take the time to think about what these artists are doing and why. Learning to listen well is incredibly difficult, much harder than playing, actually. I worry that in our iPod culture all we do is look for the superficial hook that immediately grabs our attention and if we don’t find it we just hit next. It does a terrible thing to music because we don’t spend the time learning to listen to new songs, ones that may grow on you, and as we all have probably experiences, it’s the songs that take time to hear that we end up liking the most.

Last, music deserves more dignity than it has been granted in this thread. It all started with a superficial like/dislike angle, and that is offering our most evolved artform a brutal disservice.