Vampire Weekend Bassist 'Not Offended' by 'Jersey Shore'

Since its premiere, MTV's 'Jersey Shore' has created a stir thanks to its outrageous cast members with big hair, perma-tans and what some groups have said are a bunch of 20-somethings living up to negative Italian-American stereotypes.

And while he may be an educated man, Vampire Weekend bassist Chris Baio isn't immune to Snooki and the Situation's reality show charms. "I just watched the first episode," he tells Spinner. "It was more just because everyone else was talking about it and I felt left out of a cultural moment."

But while the use of the word "guido" and the rambunctious behavior by the cast has led to the show getting slammed by local organizations and sent sponsors fleeing, Baio, an Italian-American himself, is all right with the program.

"I am in fact of Italian-American descent. I can understand I guess why people would be upset about it, but at the end of the day, you can take people of any descent who will act poorly or act stupidly," he says. "I don't think it's a reflection of an entire culture or anything like that. So that's my attitude towards it. I'm not offended on those grounds."

Vampire Weekend are out on the road in support of their second album, 'Contra,' which is out now, but despite being OK with the show, Baio probably won't be adding it to any online watching queues.

"I'm not sure," he says, laughing. "I was thinking of streaming the second episode ... I feel like now that 'Mad Men's' over I've got to find a new show to watch."