Times New Viking at Mercury Lounge 11-18-09

Just to wrap things up this week, here is the TNV show at Mercury from a few days ago for your listening perusal.

Here's the link.

Times New Viking / Axemen tour single

Picked this up last night at the TNV show at Mercury Lounge with the Axemen...my friend Pat told me to look out for a tour only single at the merch table, and there it was.
Does a band with the power of Matador behind it have to press a split single, hand color the xerox sleeve and inscribe the inner label for their US tour with the Axemen? HELL NO.
But they did it anyway.
I have to admire this.
Plus they set out to educate an audience to a NZ band that probably deserves more due that I've never come across before, I'm always up for that.

Didn't know anything about the Axemen before they went on other than the brief mentions at Siltblog after their reissue by Tom of a huge part of their back catalog. I stood there watching thinking, 'I'm sure these guys are important' especially to the first few rows. I've been reading about their protest albums/accident (crash) into some government office in NZ, they weren't in it for the money obviously. I can respect anyone touring 20+ years later etc...but it just wasn't my thing. The one time they got me was an insane hardcore blast, but honestly they didn't seem happy about it. Have to dive further into the Siltbreeze catalog.
They cover each other on this thing which I wasn't expecting at all. The Axemen track on the single 'SIcKh & TYRED' is a great interpretation of the track from the TNV Stay Awake EP. I'm into it when they replicate the back and forth Beth Adam vocals. Sounds good. They have to feel pretty cool that these guys covered one of their tracks for this. I honestly had no idea until I played it this morning.
Times New Viking on the other side cover 'Rocks in my Heart' by the Axemen. Which includes the lyric 'Sick and Tired' also I noticed...weird. They make this song fit into their catalog, emphasizing the pop chords and immediacy, all with just a touch their special fuzz. Excellent...can't believe this really. I am honored guys. It's too much.

Here's Jared working on the covers...

Times New Viking EP on Matador

$3 which is a bargain, when you consider what it takes to press a single...or in digital terms that's .60 a song...cheaper than itunes. TNV is back! This went on sale yesterday from Matador and includes a pretty sweet poster from when they played at the Whitney. I remember missing that.
This actually is perfect as a vinyl 7". I have to admit a lot of times playing the full length it kind of completely takes over, and after a long day and the bullshit of the city, a wave of static and yelling can be a little overwhelming. Catchy, but I need to think sometimes. So small doses can be just the double shot I need to put me to sleep.
Adding all these layers of overmodulation and distortion over what is essentially some kind of beat happening twee. It's so gosh darn harmonic, but all the fuzz instatly makes it kind of bad ass. Just like the Yips that I will never get over. The best two piece ever. It's still the noise your parents hate and no one understands, but it's still gentle and cutsie....I said it.
In a good way.

Times New Viking - Stay Awake 7" (Matador) Five-track EP.

Pre-order the single now, or pre-order our special Matador Store exclusive Times New Viking Bundle- You'll get the 7" and a limited-edition silk-screened poster from TNV's amazing show at the Whitney Museum in NYC earlier this year.

SIDE A:
1. CALL & RESPOND
2. PAGAN EYES
3. HATE HATE HATE

SIDE B:
1. NO SYMPATHY
2. SICK & TYRED

Shred Yr Face! (in the Uk)

Super limited edition 7″ featuring exclusive tracks from all 3 bands.

What 3 bands You ask?
Why none other than No age Times New Viking and Los Campesinos. Exclusive tracks!
You're ready right?
This is what 7"'s are all about!
Of course it is...this will be gone by the end of the week for sure, I suggest ordering it directly from overseas like Norman...I found something about some kind of record store coalition carrying them in store in the US? But I found nothing....This seems to be kicking off some kind of super promotional tour of shit-gaze...with Los Camp thrown in for good weird measure. I wonder what the UK is going to think about this under-wave coming their way today. I just can't figure out a reasonable way to get one of these.
I missed the Times New Viking single from Matador a while back, I'm stupid. No way am I trying to wrangle ebay for a $20 copy...it's too late.
Don't miss this one my brain keeps saying...I can't hear these anywhere else!
I can't type fast enough! Especially after I read this commentary from the bands...
I am just a wealth of fucking information today.

Times New Viking says:

“we recorded this song to be put on a compilation for a great publication in the usa called ” the yeti”, quite a good read. the issue should be out soon, #6 i believe. we learned this song from our friends yo la tengo while on the road, atleast the better part of the lyrics. recorded at home on a boombox. the clean are our beatles and everyone should try to find out about them, please. tally ho.”

No Age says:

“Taken from the song “Sick People are Safe” off of our Deleted Art EP, this is an underlying track of noise that was in the background. Alone it serves as a whole different experience, and comes to life in another form. ENJOY!”

7″ ACTION : The three bands have got their collective heads together for a limited edition tour 7″ that will be available from the Coalition group of indie stores in the UK. Tracklisting : 01 Los Campesinos!: “Death to Los Campesinos! (Napoleon III Remix)” 02 No Age: “Revolving Credit for Kitty” 03 Times New Viking: “Anything Could Happen” (The Clean cover)

Siren 08 - Dodos, Times and Jicks

Remembering last weekend and Siren:
The Dodos: This was easily the stand out performance, even after missing a few of the songs in favor of beer and fried whatever they've got at Coney Island. Coming from the boardwalk we ended up right next to the stage and watched Meric Long sitting down playing 'Jodi', with Meric rocking back and forth on a shitty plastic folding chair. I thought that it's just two members, singer/guitarist Meric Long and drummer Logan Kroeber, but they must have wrangled a friend for random percussion duties and for most of this song he was hitting a metal trash can, then switching to xylophone.
A couple of guys were standing behind me talking about how their friends girlfriend was taking them to see these weird shit bands and to expect more like this. 'well any band playing a trashcan can't be too bad.'
Live, they reminded me of New Neutral Milk Hotel, (not that I ever saw him live) in the obscure lyrics and off melodies and watching Meric commit to just yelling out these lyrics from Visiter only reinforced that...or more recently the Bowerbirds feel, the faraway sleigh bells and bass drums played with mallets, but all sped up and pop full of strange rhythms and even stranger percussion sounds. Tom heavy and hitting the edge of the snare which I feel like I rarely heard. By the end Meric got up out of the chair and was destroying the miked garbage can, finally falling off the stand and they ended the set way too soon.


Times New Viking: I waited for TNV who were going to be on next, and as much as I love a free show, and even coney island, knowing that it's all about to change...this might even be the last Siren for all I know, but it brings out the crazies. The friends who have to dance like idiots, determined to get attention, and this bad ass old drunk biker/punk crazy bald fuck heard about 5 seconds of the opening song and started pushing his way through to start moshing I think, but then he looked on stage and saw the band and threw up his hands 'Oh fuck this', and just shook his head making his way back to the half dressed girls handing out Devry college fans.
Jared, the guitarist came out first, already in the middle of a party with a bottle of jack in hand, tucked in shirt, like some kind of shitgaze Townes Van Zandt.
Drummer Adam Elliott was the voice of the band, talking to the crowd inbetween songs, asking Jared for a cigarette and saying 'this song is untitled # whatever'...nice.
I think the thing with this live versus recorded is he songwriting is essentially there, no matter what it's hiding behind or under...they are plain fun...and you could see that from them onstage. It's very different, but the energy is there. They might have even been the only band to possibly sound better from out on the strip with all the sound reverbing around.
Beth Murphy on some kind of tiny Alesis, adds that super fuzz.... really...we've all heard guitars distorted, but I think she's playing the simplest piano sound at 11, through a tiny amp behind her so through a PA is just gets that messed up tone that's always there. I knew they were going to blow the speakers out and they didn't dissapoint, luckily afterwords I took a long hiatus in the ocean becuase my ears were most definitely ringing.


The Jicks: It wasn't as hot and after lots more beer and walking around in the ocean, I mean really where else can you do that... I made it back over for the Jicks, through the Broken Social Scene crowd and after an insane wait for the bathroom which always make you think, you know what there are worse jobs out there and I'm glad the one I have isn't dealing with any of this tomorrow morning.
I just can't get over the classic rock jam sound on Real Emotional Trash, songs are even more drawn out live and gave me the creeps in this fairground crowd, like I was stuck at some awful has been band at the county fair with my parents and I just want to get the fuck out of there. I'm not saying it wasn't good, they must have played everything from their latest and it was good, but I couldn't shake that feeling. Their renditions were new, they kept them interesting, changing the breakdowns and Malkmus is just plain funny, a true perfomer, great to just watch. I'm just not in the same place musically as Steve lately.
They did rock a cover of 'Two tickets to paradise' which wast pretty rad.
The entire live show is available from NYCtaper here.

The Dodo's 7" 'Red and Purple' is still available from Witchita or can be had somewhat locally from Modlang.

Eat Skull - Dead Famiies

Being on a Times New Viking kick lately, this is perfectly along the same lines, all low-fi fuzziness, with kind of a psyche-out edge, that starts to spiral in places, but the delivery in this track 'Things I did' of this same yelled line 'Watching me watch tv', goes from being a statement, kind of funny, to being really pissed and yelling at the top of your lungs.
The track on this 7," 'Dead Families' reminds me of the Velvet underground, it has a kind of repeated jangly rhythm played on the shittiest AM radio your dad has in the garage, it's yellowed and the antenna is totally busted off, the station barely in, it's from the cool town, the next town over. This relentless organ note drowns out everything else going on and starts the decline of any kind of normal song progression, the tangle of sound. You only realize it's still there when it cuts out for a second. It comes to a complete stop at one point and the vocalist ramps it up again for another 3 minute jam. This has to be 33.

Just otherworldly, could have existed in all bunch of time periods, or none of them. The long lost recordings...this is a trend(?, or all of a sudden I'm putting these things together) that I'm all about these days.

Now for the bad part, the only place I can definitively find this is Cloth Ear (?) in Australia, for $10...supposedly a couple of record stores in Portland mentioned in their myspace blog are carrying it already, but they don't do mailorder as far as I can tell...

It should be out at some point on Skulltones, maybe after the dust settles from SXSW....

PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT -who let the dogs out- repress

This is their first single released a while ago and sold out pretty quick, I remember this being pretty noisy, sound, no-fi insanity. If you are looking for this you'll be glad to pick up a copy. The fact that it's on siltbreeze should tell you something, they also have just put out a full length LP as well.
They supported Times New Viking on tour, and are as opaque-sounding as recording at the bottom of the ocean.
I was riding the bus to Boston and I listened to Times New Viking over and over, and I was literally hearing different things, it's kind of like light, you throw the entire spectrum in there, every frequency and you're going to hear some amazing things. The sound you were producing with a vibrating string is now harmonizing with the static, you're peering through the fog and in the meantime your mind is coming up with all kinds of things just out of sight.

Psychedelic Horseshit's first single, "Who Let The Dogs Out" is available again from Columbus Discount in a 2nd edition of 300 copies. It'll be available in the coming days from S-S, Florida's Dying, Goner, Bistro Distro, and Fusetron. We will also have 50 copies available directly through www.columbusdiscountrecords.com on Monday or Tuesday. They will certainly sell quickly, but we plan to keep them in print. Artwork varies slightly (the stapled pieces are different) from edition to edition.