via//chicago

Giving that band a second shot...

I thought I hated Times New Viking. I figured I would be just as happy to live the rest of my life without ever having to hear one of their songs ever again. Turns out I was wrong.

See, I first heard about this Columbus, Ohio trio early in 2007 after the release of their second Stiltbreeze record and their signing with Matador. Everything I read about them indicated that I would love them - noisy, lo-fi, bargain basement recording techniques, twisted pop sensibility - sounded like a great thing to me. I was expecting a younger, more exuberant version of Guided by Voices or something. Turns out that was my mistake. After my first listen to Present the Paisley Reich I didn't get it. Yeah there were a couple of decent melodies in the music, but you had to suffer through some of the most horrible production I'd ever heard. I mean, really bad production. Like guitars being played through blown out speakers and recorded into a busted four-track tape recorder floating in a piss-filled toilet while the lead singer bellows from another room. These kids made Guided by Voices sound like, I don't know, fucking ELO by comparison. I just couldn't get past the tinny, treble-y production that was killing me ears. It wasn't worth suffering through that much for a couple lousy hooks. I gave the album a couple more spins as the year went by, but every listen became an absolute chore so I ended up deleting the album from my iPod completely.

Who knows why, maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, but for some reason I decided to give their Matador debut (Rip It Off) a chance to see if they'd improved at all. The first thirty seconds didn't make me hopeful, it was just as noisy and painful as anything off the last disc. I skipped ahead to the next track, "(My Head)", and suddenly everything fell into place. An instantly engaging melody emerged from the muck and I found myself nodding along as the band sang one of the most undeniable hooks of this early year. Sure, it was still noisy and tinny and everything I didn't like about the last album, but all that mattered was that hook. It was like listening to the most incompetent kids in the world trying to bash out an exuberant tune from the garage next door. The song was downright charming, in a way that the most slickly produced pop song could never be. The rest of the album flew by and I was picking up hooks and melodies all over the place. Some time in the last year, Times New Viking took a dramatic leap in songwriting abilities and it has paid off in spades. The noise and distortion, which struck me as a too carefully constructed gimmick on the last album, suddenly made complete and perfect sense as an aesthetic decision. I was really glad I gave these kids another chance, this record is a real treat. But, as usual, don't take my word for it.... have a listen for yourself (and... if you are new to Times New Viking... yes, it really is meant to sound like this...)

Times New Viking - "(My Head)" (taken from Rip It Off)
Times New Viking - "Faces On Fire" (taken from Rip It Off)