{grate 3.5} Here’s to cheeky band names that play off of Microsoft Word
fonts. Former SF cult-punks the Coachwhips once held the title of “most
distorted rock band” in my mind, but now it’s beginning to look less clear with
Times New Viking’s newest foray Rip It Off. The DIY trio tricks listeners who
think they wouldn’t like noise music into slowly giving the genre a chance,
serving as an adequate entry — the harsh tones still evoke some semblance of
rock tradition. In short, the production quality matches an indie-pop radio
station going out of range and fading into barely intelligible distortion.

“Teen Drama” kicks it off with sharp arpeggios, super-easy
keyboard riffs and a vocal duet that doesn’t even try for harmony. Minute-long
blast “Drop-Out” splits vocal duties between singers Jared Phillips and Beth
Murphy, the guitar mess jabbing the empty space with a vengeance.

If you approach TNV from a straight-up indie viewpoint,
you’ll be annoyed and disappointed with the blown-out fuzz coating on every
instrument in the mix; if you approach them as a noise enthusiast, you’ll be
bored with their predictable 4/4 arrangements and punk aesthetic.

So the Viking find themselves in a crossbreed category, like
their contemporary No Age, taking cues from the experimental and dousing its
two-minute sing-alongs in atonal style. Of course, you can’t tell what they’re
singing most of the time, but that’s probably what the band wanted. Like My
Bloody Valentine’s ethos, part of the beauty is letting your imagination piece
together the lyrics.

The other part is that TNV perfectly documents the thrill of
playing music, giving you the drive to write similar songs with a weak practice
amp and a few power chords. As an inspirational tool, they’ve totally succeeded
with this record; as actual music, it’s not bad either.