Next Best Records Blog

Times New Viking's new record, Rip It Off, really sounds so good that it's a waste of time to write a review of it.  With that said (and given that I've already thrown in my two cents about the brilliant label on the a-side of the record), I'll ramble on about it and throw in a few thoughts on their record release show last Friday at the Wexner Center.  Since Greg Oden's out for the season, I need something to do while I'm watching the Cavs game tonight, so let's roll . . . .

My all time top-three favorite records are, in order:

1. the Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
2. Guided by Voices, Alien Lanes
3. Pavement, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Is Rip It Off up there?  I dunno.  I made a rule up when I was 21 that I couldn't have a record in my all-time top ten unless I had listened to it for six years.  Why?  Top 10's (I actually haven't made one since I was 21, but the top three remain the same) should "stand the test of time," and when I was 21 I'd listened to each of Pet Sounds, Alien Lanes, and Crooked Rain for at least six years.

I think I really give you that list because I guess I dig Rip It Off so much for the same reasons that I dig those three records so much.  Not that TNV and Rip It Off sound anything like those records (there's just a faint glimmer of Brian Wilson -- if any -- in there, a bit of GBV, and a little more Pavement, albeit pre-Slanted Pavement more than CRCR).  I like those three records so much because I can just listen to them.  There's no thought involved.  I put needle to wax, sit down, and listen as something unnamable comes together, every time (even, now that I'm over the hill and close to 27, after at least 12 years of listening to each of those records).  There's those moments where everything seems to make sense: that first Hal Blaine drum strike in "Wouldn't It Be Nice," or the first chorus of "Watch Me Jumpstart" or the first 30 seconds or so of "Elevate Me Later."  Each record is its own world as well.  Pet Sounds = some celestial plane.  Alien Lanes = a far-out moon with the best radio station anywhere.  Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain = an endless youth spending an endless summer in a truly chill California.

So, if I'm peering six years into my crystal ball.  Assuming I'm making another top 10 list and I've still got the stupid six year rule, is Rip It Off up there?  It's got a shot.

The members of TNV have served their rock and roll apprenticeship.  They know their shit, and through two LP's, a couple of singles, and a few years' worth of shows, they've proved they can apply what they know.  If Rip It Off is its own world, I don't know what it is or where it's at yet.  I do know that it's a cohesive whole that works, something that few bands are able to pull off over the course of a 30-minute LP.  I also know it's one of maybe three or four new records from the past few years that I not only can put everything aside, sit down, and listen to, but also have to put everything aside and listen to whenever I put it on.  It demands your full attention.  Not in some authoritarian or belligerently overpowering sense, but it the way that it makes you pay close attention as that half hour zooms by.

"Teen Drama" is the way a record should open.  It's nothing less than an invocation, ala "Our Prayer" if Smile ever existed (it doesn't and won't).  I'm pretty sure I remember TNV opening with it when they played at the Psychedelic Horseshit record release show and me thinking that it didn't work so great.  I'm guessing that was a rare "off" moment for TNV, but either way I've seen the light now.  And the way it leads straight into the epic "(my head)" -- it kills.

The other thing is how the record goes in a whole bunch of different directions, and not haphazardly or in a "throw everything in" way.  The half-frantic, half-freakout "RIP Allegory" (which rules) gives way to the half-ballad "The Wait", which itself turns mid-song into a chorus that's catching the same wave as the afore-mentioned "Watch Me Jumpstart" but riding it a bit more subtly so as to make the ride last a little longer.

Then we really start kicking it.  "DROP - OUT" could be on Alien Lanes, though I think it shines a little more here anyway.  "Faces on Fire" is another one . . . maybe it was Adam spinning the Mice at Bobo St. Friday night, but every time I listen to it I feel more and more like it would work on Scooter.  Again, though, the song rightfully belongs on Rip It Off, and it works best where it's at.

Ok, really getting too review-y.  "Another Day" should be a Top-40 hit.  The riff in "The Apt." kicks my ass.  My one complaint at this point is I'd end the record with "Times New Viking vs. Yo La Tengo."  If you've got a memorable instrumental that fits perfectly with the record, let that finish it . . . but I guess you can blame Alien Lanes for making me think like that, and "Post Teen Drama" grows on me with each listen anyway.

Thoughts on fidelity: it seems like I've read a handful of reviews that go on and on about the lo-fi sound and wondering when TNV will take the leap of fidelity or even suggesting they should go mid- or hi-fi with their next record.  I think one review even spent 75% of the space talking solely about the recording fidelity, rather than talking about the songs themselves.  It's gotten to the point that I don't even know what lo-fi is anymore.  Don't you think TNV wanted the record to sound like it does?  And don't you think that it sounds pretty damned perfect the way it is?  (I do.)  No one can tell me with a straight face that Coney Island Baby, even the remixed/remastered version, sounds better than White Light/White Heat.  Same with Coast to Coast Carpet of Love and Vampire on Titus.  And "Jaguar Ride" or "Agitated" wouldn't sound anywhere near as revelatory if they were recorded at Suma.  It's like the guy who wrote the review of the Psychedelic Horseshit record and said seriously that he'd made better quality recordings on his cassette 4-track in his living room . . . I'll just stop now and save the energy for my book on lo-fi rock.

Anyway, fast forward to Friday night at the Wex, where it was a celebration of the good going on in this city right now.  A nice sized crowd, a lot of kids, people dancing despite the lack of on-site alcohol (why didn't I remember that drinking three cans of Coke on a stomach full of dopplebock is a horrible idea?). 

TNV at the Wexner Center (Blurry photo courtesy of Luke)

People's heads and TNV (Hi-fi pic courtesy of me)

Yeah, it was a bit weird seeing all those bands in that kind of environment, but with Matt Horseshit on the soundboard (best all-star band-soundman combo since Dave Doughman did sound for GBV) it was like a home game for TNV, and they played a killer show.  The opening 1-2-3 combination, straight off the beginning of the LP, got things going right, and just when I'm starting to worry that they might think of doing a lame "play the whole record" set, they jump into the hits-new classic-hits groove.  The highlight for me?  Probably an "End of All Things" where, instead of the acoustic ending, the drums and keys dropped out and it was Jared continuing the electric jam accompanied by Beth and Adam, stalking their respective parts of the stage for the final lyric round.

Times New Viking goes on a brief tour in a couple of weeks.  If they're in your town, you should go, and in the meantime buy the record.