It’s a grand day for indie rock, as Vampire Weekend have just debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Go ahead and hoist a refreshing glass of horchata in their honor. The preppy foursome sold 124,000 copies of their sophomore album Contra, according to Nielsen SoundScan — a nice number that, combined with weak retail competition, was enough to make them the biggest band in the nation for at least one week. Considering that the No. 1 spot generally belongs to major-label acts like Ke$ha and Susan Boyle, it’s impressive to see a scrappy young indie group pull this off. (Contra came out on XL Recordings.) In fact, this is only the 12th time an independent release has topped Billboard‘s flagship chart since the SoundScan era began in 1991.
Speaking of Susan Boyle, I Dreamed a Dream stayed at No. 2 by selling 77,000 copies. Barring any surprises, her lengthy reign on this chart would seem to have reached a definitive end. Meanwhile, last week’s chart-topper, Ke$ha, slipped to No. 3 with 67,000 copies sold of Animal in its second week.
Aside from Vampire Weekend, it was a quiet week for new releases. R&B crooner Omarion’s alliteratively titled Ollusion landed at No. 19, with 19,000 copies sold; no other new albums made the Top 20.
What do you think of Vampire Weekend’s chart triumph? How far do you think they’ll drop next week? Sound off in the comments, below.
(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)
More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Ke$ha dethrones Susan Boyle on the albums chart
Stephen Gately: Is new Boyzone video a fitting tribute?
Susan Boyle talks to Oprah about her hospitalization
New Taylor Swift song, “Today Was a Fairytale”: Listen here
It is just a week since the Haiti earthquake. But you can now buy
The Irish band Boyzone’s new single “Gave It All Away” features the late Stephen Gately, who 
Susan Boyle’s visit to The Oprah Winfrey Show just aired, and it was…well, pretty much exactly what you’d expect if you’ve seen any of Boyle’s other TV appearances. Boyle began with a typically clear-voiced rendition of the inspirational tune “Who I Was Born To Be” (sample lyric: “I’ve got the world in my hands, and it feels like my turn to fly”), followed by a short interview. Promos for the show suggested Boyle would come clean to Oprah about her 
Very sad news: Kate McGarrigle has died, her manager confirms. The beloved Canadian folk singer was 63. 
The third night of this year’s 
The lineup for the eleventh edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which takes place this April 16-18, has 
Obscenely jolie Parisian actress Marion Cotillard (she of the 
