Times New Viking
On first listen, 'Rip It Off' could be just
Times New Viking
Rip It Off
(Matador)
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
????
On first listen, Rip It Off could be just “another batch of lo-fi indie pop songs,” said Jason Crock in Pitchforkmedia.com. Except that “every chord, every note, every yelped vocal, every grizzled and treble-tearing tone is one of sheer exuberance.” These three kids from Columbus, Ohio, thrive on do-it-yourself spirit and “get off on the privilege of just making a sound.” Times New Viking has a penchant for the early 1990s pop of Pavement and Guided by Voices, and it comes through on Rip It Off. The album whirs and rumbles like a modest basement recording. The instruments sound like “off-brand department store toys” and the speakers could, for all we know, be busted. But the thinned-out “layer of fuzz works like a security blanket,” giving listeners shelter from the squall while letting them uncover the hidden pop virtues for themselves. Under those “defiant reams of scratched-up murk,” they’ll find both despairing and exultant melodies, said Chuck Eddy in Billboard. Rip It Off checks in at just over 30 minutes, but it’s packed with catchy hooks, “drunken shout-alongs, jangling strums, and Jesus and Mary Chain guitar-gunk spurts.” Times New Viking welcomes us back to the “righteous clamor of the early ’90s,” said Joe Gross in Spin. What they’ve got with this album is a “note-perfect ode to those better days.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
5 fact-checked cartoons about the VP debate
Cartoons Artists take on civil disagreements, admissions, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Japanese villages where time stood still
The Week Recommends Up to 200 villagers cooperate to thatch a roof in a single day, preserving this beautiful tradition
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: October 6, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published