Labels: Matador
Review by: Ben Haynes
Although various quarters of the musical press claim “Born Again Revisited’ to be Times New Viking’s “highest fidelity record’, apparently the band delivered the master of their fourth LP proper to Matador on VHS. For the uninitiated, TNV make a brash, noise-soaked, pop-infused melodic garage rock, precisely in line with their Siltbreeze peers, with the male/female vocal “harmonies’ representing their USP. Indeed, many believe that they almost single-handedly resuscitated the Siltbreeze label during a time of impossible struggle in 2005. This is their second full-length for their new big-time label and, of course, it sounds absolutely fucked “” nothing else would do.
As usual, everything is blown out and fuzzed up with the vocals obscured, for the main, nice and low in the mix. Fifteen tracks rip through in half an hour, in what feels like an utterly complacent, carefree manner. All well and good, but it’s just more of the same – exactly the same – leaving the listener exasperated and wondering just exactly how many Times New Viking records anyone would really ever need or want. Over four LPs and an EP in four years, it’s hard to see how this Columbus, Ohio group has evolved or expanded its somewhat limited repertoire. Yet again, Times New Viking has dropped an LP with a few really good tunes, a couple of absolutely killer, brilliantly-realised knockout jams, and a vast, overbearing quantity of instantly forgettable puerile garbage.