Today I purchased the new record by Times New Viking. Now I have been in the trenches of rock for a long time, but never have I heard so good a record recorded so badly. Bands like No Age and Times New Viking certainly have a way with ear-shredding feedback. Doubtless* this is some kind of sonic comment on today's super-compressed, unlistenable mainstream albums.
I am sure you have heard of the loudness war. What, you haven't? Then click the link! I couldn't tell why modern major label albums were giving me a headache but this explained it to me.
Times New Viking gave me a headache for a completely different reason. But I kind of liked it! Now, the most ferocious squall of feedback I have ever had to suffer was when I listened to the entire ouevre of So So Many White White Tigers all the way through, twice, on their Myspace page. It was the same thrill of pure, adrenalised terror I used to get listening to John Peel back in the day.
I must warn you that the link above is not for weak minds, and that I found the band when investigating the mercifully brief musical career of "No Condom? Whatever". You have been warned &etc
*By "doubtless" I mean "wouldn't it be nice if".
5 comments:
Saw them open for Super Furries in Montreal two months ago and was underwhelmed. It was like watching toddlers with cool hair wallop pots and pans and shout in a few different keys over and over again: fun for five minutes, then you want to hand them back to their parents and go read a quiet book.
I saw Super Furry Animals back in 1996 and felt about the same! They were terrible! But they got an awful lot better. It is early days for this beat combo.
Live I can only imagine that they're an awful racket, but I think Rip It Off is up there with Vampire On Titus by GBV in the lo-fi canon!
I'm just excited to hear music that is both raw and good, these are the bands that continue to surprise five, six records in.
Oh! I had completely forgotten that this album was coming out. Thanks for reminding me. You are so very useful at times. ;)
Then I hold out hope for their eventual awesomeness. And I must say, they sound better on the disk than I had expected.
Gosh. Presumably they must of been going for that sound (based on the myspace) because there's no way that could be mistaken for reedy to release otherwise.
Thanks for alerting me to the loudness war, I hadn't previously hard of the phenomena but it explains a lot.
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