If you haven't noticed already, I'm pretty hyped on the kids. Not sure if it is the kool-aid, or a long, introspective summer (yes, it was somewhat long, still not over) of more chilled do-it-yourselfers -- whom I all consider derived from Times New Viking at this point. Of course, though they'd hate to admit it, TNV's direct inspiration comes from Guided By Voices and the Siltbreeze peripherals that they came to discover from Robert Pollard's Trader Vic tweets in 1994 (NZ, Harry Pussy, Fieldhands, Echoes from Rep and Shep), so all of these youth owe a little St. Ides on the curb for Elephant Jokes. What's that Metallica song? "Sad but True" ???
It all comes down to the songs, right? I've spent a long, and finally "hot," summer with Born Again Revisited, and I must say, these are the best "songs" that Times New Viking have written. Coming home from work this day, it's nice to see a reputable internet "authority" like Peefork call them "lo-fi titans." But I know there's somewhere in the last week (week and a half) of turmoil, melancholy, ecstasy, and stoicism that Me and "some other person*" discussed the actual fidelity of said band. The "kids" have kind of defiled fidelity and pushed it beyond the realm of good taste (or even "play for your "radio station's" programming director's" taste). You're either "on" or you're "off." When "your kids" riddle those "Elliott Smith" compact discs you've stored away (and subsequently ask if you know how much a copy of Dig Yourself goes for on Z-BAY), you'll likely say you were "off."
This video they did, playing "Yo La Tengo," transports me back to late night weekends with 120 Minutes. YLT videos from the '90s are quintessentially indie -- blurry landscapes, underground comedian cameos, and pastels. So it's actually no surprise that a band like TNV is playing into that mythology (in this new century (and dawn of YLT most brilliant album in years (though none of them are "that" bad))), adored by the Clean, touring with the Breeders, and releasing their best record yet in a mere month. Go Forth, I Guess.
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