Makes Us Nervous

Times New Viking “Love Your Daughters” – Times New Viking’s lo-fi style may be an affectation in the age of Pro-Tools, but it’s an aesthetic choice that works well for them, and pretty much anyone else who plays this sort of raggedy, fuzzy pop rock — the kind of music that used to be synonymous with the category “indie rock” before that phrase ended up getting corrupted by overuse. A lot of the beauty in lo-fi comes from its distinct, informal textures, and the way it makes every sound seem lived-in and familiar, like a crappy yet sturdy jacket you’ve been wearing every winter for the better part of a decade. I’m not convinced that these guitar parts would sound better recorded any other way, and the blur of vocals and keyboards fill the arrangement out without sounding fixed in any position, like bits of scenery in memories that might be a bit off, but aren’t exactly essential to the feeling. (Click here to buy it from Midheaven.)

Elsewhere: I have a paragraph of comments in this year’s Village Voice Pazz and Jop poll. Here they are for you if you hate to click links:

Passionate fandom is a bonus and may grant you some longevity, but your average flash-in-the-pan only needs to get enough people to provide some sort of risk-free, superficial endorsement — downloading your songs for free, adding you on MySpace — to build up enough buzz to generate a backlash before anyone outside your tiny cultural bubble ever learns your name, much less hears your music. On the bright side, burning through a seemingly complete career arc in the span of six months is still better than to have no recognition at all, and even when first-year bloggers are pimping bland, conservative acts such as the Cold War Kids, they are still collectively far more adventurous than the overwhelming majority of print and broadcast media.

Matthew Perpetua
Astoria, New York

Also: Here is my ballot, which is a little different from the one that I did for Idolator’s poll.

And: A Merry Marvel Musical Atrocity, courtesy of Rachelle Goguen.