Times New Viking
Encyclopedia
Times New Viking is a lo-fi
indie rock
band from Columbus
, Ohio
. The lineup consists of guitarist Jared Phillips, drummer Adam Elliott, and Beth Murphy on keyboards. Murphy and Elliott share vocal duties.
Their name, "Times New Viking," is a play on the popular typeface Times New Roman. They have released four albums: 2005's Dig Yourself, 2007's Present the Paisley Reich, and 2008's Rip It Off, which NME gave an 8/10, and 2009's Born Again Revisited. Rip it Off reached #17 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. The band was formerly signed to Siltbreeze and Matador Records
. In January 2011, they announced that their fifth album, Dancer Equired!, will be released in April via Merge
in the US, Wichita
in Europe, Pop Frenzy in Australia and Big Nothing in Japan.
' early material. This also meant they were considered part of the "shitgaze" genre, alongside contemporaries such as Psychedelic Horseshit
and Eat Skull. Notable features of their songs include shouted vocals, distorted drums and loud, trebly guitars, in addition to tape hiss and brevity. Their lyrics are generally sloganistic and feature pop culture references.
With 2009's Born Again Revisited, the band recorded the album to VHS and commented the recording fidelity had increased by 25%. In 2010, the group released a 7" single available on their tours opening for Guided by Voices
. The single, featuring "No Room to Live", displayed cleaner production, a result of the band utilising proper recording studios for the first time – namely Musicol Recording studio and Columbus Discount Recordings. It has been reported by Merge Records that Dancer Equired! will also feature this production style.
Lo-fi music
Lo-fi is lower quality of sound recordings than the usual standard for music. The qualities of lo-fi are usually achieved by either degrading the quality of the recorded audio, or using certain equipment. Recent uses of the phrase have led to it becoming a genre, although it still remains as an...
indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band from Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. The lineup consists of guitarist Jared Phillips, drummer Adam Elliott, and Beth Murphy on keyboards. Murphy and Elliott share vocal duties.
Their name, "Times New Viking," is a play on the popular typeface Times New Roman. They have released four albums: 2005's Dig Yourself, 2007's Present the Paisley Reich, and 2008's Rip It Off, which NME gave an 8/10, and 2009's Born Again Revisited. Rip it Off reached #17 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. The band was formerly signed to Siltbreeze and Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
. In January 2011, they announced that their fifth album, Dancer Equired!, will be released in April via Merge
Merge Records
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...
in the US, Wichita
Wichita Recordings
Wichita Recordings is an independent record label located in London, founded in 2000 by Mark Bowen and Dick Green. Its most notable signees are Bloc Party, The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Her Space Holiday, Los Campesinos! and Peter Bjorn and John...
in Europe, Pop Frenzy in Australia and Big Nothing in Japan.
Music
Times New Viking have been noted for their lo-fi aesthetic, recorded to cassette, which drew comparisons to Guided by VoicesGuided by Voices
Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band originating from Dayton, Ohio. Beginning with the band's formation in 1983, it made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard...
' early material. This also meant they were considered part of the "shitgaze" genre, alongside contemporaries such as Psychedelic Horseshit
Psychedelic Horseshit
Psychedelic Horseshit is an American band from Columbus, Ohio, that plays a genre of lo-fi noise pop that they christened shitgaze.-History:...
and Eat Skull. Notable features of their songs include shouted vocals, distorted drums and loud, trebly guitars, in addition to tape hiss and brevity. Their lyrics are generally sloganistic and feature pop culture references.
With 2009's Born Again Revisited, the band recorded the album to VHS and commented the recording fidelity had increased by 25%. In 2010, the group released a 7" single available on their tours opening for Guided by Voices
Guided by Voices
Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band originating from Dayton, Ohio. Beginning with the band's formation in 1983, it made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard...
. The single, featuring "No Room to Live", displayed cleaner production, a result of the band utilising proper recording studios for the first time – namely Musicol Recording studio and Columbus Discount Recordings. It has been reported by Merge Records that Dancer Equired! will also feature this production style.
Albums
- Dig Yourself (2005)
- Present the Paisley ReichPresent the Paisley ReichPresent the Paisley Reich is the second album by lo-fi indie rock group Times New Viking. The CD release is expanded to include songs from two seven-inch releases: "Busy Making Love & War" and a split EP with Psychedelic Horseshit...
(2007) - Rip It OffRip It Off (Times New Viking album)Rip It Off is the third album by Columbus, Ohio based trio Times New Viking. It is their first release for Matador Records, their two previous albums were released on Siltbreeze Records.-Track listing:# "Teen Drama"# ""# "RIP Allegory"...
(January 22, 2008) - Born Again RevisitedBorn Again RevisitedBorn Again Revisited is the fourth album by Columbus, Ohio based trio Times New Viking, and their second release for Matador Records. The track 'No Time, No Hope' was released as a teaser download by Matador in advance of the album's release....
(September 22, 2009) - Dancer Equired!Dancer Equired!Dancer Equired is the fifth album by Columbus, Ohio based trio Times New Viking, and their first release for Merge Records.-Track listing:# “It’s a Culture” - 2:23# “Ever Falling in Love” - 2:36# “No Room to Live” - 2:20# “Try Harder” - 1:58...
(April 26, 2011)
Singles
- "Busy Making Love and War" (2005)
- "We Got Rocket" (2005)
- "My Head" (2007)
- "Call and Respond" (2008)
- "No Time, No Hope" (2009)
- "No Room to Live" (2011)