Times New Viking - Rip It Off - mp3 review
I’ve had these tracks for a few weeks now and I wanted to get them out to you guys sooner but I got a little busy and totally forgot about it until Lawrence mentioned them the other day. This is another band that is certain to rub a few of you the wrong way, and to those few I say: write what you want, just know that you are WRONG!
Times New Viking is a Columbus, OH trio consisting of drummer/vocalist Adam Elliot, keyboardist/vocalist Beth Murphy and guitarist Jared Phillips. Their first album, ‘Dig Yourself’, emerged as the first release in years from the Siltbreeze label (former home to Guided By Voices, the Dead C., Sebadoh and other giants). Disguised as a lo-fi noise-rock outfit, TNV are essentially a pop band. Really dirty, frustrated, snarling pop, with a sunny disposition. Playfully aggressive hooks saturated by a defiant overdrive and dressed with shouty boy-girl vocals. Almost every review I’ve read of this band has used the word perfect to describe their sound, and there’s more than a tinge of irony in that considering the recording quality of these tracks, the unintelligible lyrics, the barely audible washed out drums. Yet, still, it just seems to roll off the tongue…..perfect. ‘Rip It Off’ was released yesterday and is TNV’s third release to date, however this was their first release on Matador.
Another Day
Drop-Out
My Head
Teen Drama
Post Teen Drama
buy it here: http://www.insound.com/search/artist.jsp?artist=INS31136
-mark
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
So, basically if I write crappy music, turn the treble up all the way and the mid and low to zero, then matador will sign me. Sound pretty ALT.
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
I like lo-fi poppy tracks like this, but these days it doesn’t cost much to at least imrpove the quality to a point where you can at least enjoy the actual music without having to completely rejigger your stereo. stereo? who uses stereos anymore? ipods, mp3s, shitty computer speakers. blaaaaaaaa.
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
exactly.
lo-fi shouldn’t mean ear-pain.
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:39 pm
A band that critics love (I mean, even Pitchfork likes them), but having
more than a cult following will be tough. Like the Pitchfork review says,
their songs aren’t going to sell Volkswagons. I wonder though if they’ll
sell even themselves except to those (kids) who like them distinctly for
their non commercial noisey-ness. I’d be curious to hear them clean as I
think they might sound alright - maybe ‘cleaner’ would be better. This
sounds less like home recording, lo-fi than purposeful dirty-ness and it
just sounds bad. In order to get through the tracks I have to turn my
headphones wayyyy down.
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:41 pm
EAR PAIN = the new ALT
There is something to the overproduced-ness of a lot of bands these days,
and this seems to be a reaction to that, but CMON DOODS……
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:44 pm
definitely sounds like it was recorded this way on purpose, but why? i think the production quality sounds like absolute dogshit. i cant listen to this on a regular basis. although the songs themselves sound really decent. if these guys put out some tracks where the production was better, i’d be interested, but i’m not a huge fan of scraping the insides of my ears with nails, which is what this production quality reminds me of.
it sort of sucks that they did this, since i do like the songs. but now i won’t listen to them because of their shitty production.
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:19 pm
I don’t like these tracks…sounds like a garage band recorded these from a boombox tape player. Does anyone say boombox anymore (did they ever)?
Lani
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:19 pm
i almost said boombox in my review…
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:21 pm
i think i like these guys! but i’m a sucker for anything shitty
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I just converted one of these mp3s from 192kbs to 16kbs and it sounds the same
original 1.5 mb
new track 129.3 kb
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Which is why you LOVVVE 2 girls and a cup