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Times New Viking | Dancer Equired

Merge Records (2011)
By GARRETT MARTIN  |  April 27, 2011
2.5 2.5 Stars

TNV main

Times New Viking's tour of America's legendary indie-rock labels continues with their first release for Merge after a few albums on Matador and then Siltbreeze. By 2015, they'll be on SST, and by late 2015, they'll be suing Greg Ginn. But right now, in 2011, they've done the inevitable and tidied up just a bit. The overwhelming fuzz and full-blown levels of past TNV joints have given way to a slightly more presentable sound. The fidelity's still low — this ain't no Mutt Lange production — but Dancer Equired doesn't scrape out your eardrums when you listen to it on headphones. The album feels less urgent and reckless, but you may also find it easier to focus on the songs, which are a vital part of the record-making process that Times New Viking have excelled at. The always-present kiwi-pop influence — these folks obviously love the Clean — is more blatant with the band's new-found noise reduction. The continuous hitmaking of Present the Paisley Reich might be gone forever, but Dancer Equired offers up enough catchy pop jams to warrant a listen.

TIMES NEW VIKINGTHE BABIES | Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston | May 26 @ 9 pm | $14 doors | 617.566.9014

Related: Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears | Scandalous, Yelle | Safari Disco Club, The Sounds | Something To Die For, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Music, Times New Viking, Times New Viking,  More more >
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ARTICLES BY GARRETT MARTIN
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  •   TIMES NEW VIKING | DANCER EQUIRED  |  April 27, 2011
    Times New Viking's tour of America's legendary indie-rock labels continues with their first release for Merge after a few albums on Matador and then Siltbreeze.
  •   LIFEGUARDS | WAVING AT THE ASTRONAUTS  |  March 09, 2011
    Hey, it's another Robert Pollard record. Today must be a day. We can't even joke about how prolific this guy is because we've heard 'em all a million billion times already.
  •   KURT VILE | SMOKE RING FOR MY HALO  |  March 03, 2011
    It's weird to write about a guy who operates this close to the classic singer-songwriter template and not even consider the lyrics.
  •   FAUST | SOMETHING DIRTY  |  February 09, 2011
    Faust are like the anti-Who: only the rhythm section remains.
  •   NO BEEF WITH US  |  October 04, 2010
    "The United States is probably my favorite country," says Brian Kelly, the singer for Irish indie-pop band So Cow. It's nice to know somebody in the world still loves us.

 See all articles by: GARRETT MARTIN

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