The whole idea of a pop sound that scrapes the underbelly and simultaneously pulls up the chins of absent-minded plebs everywhere is gonna win my stupid heart, font reference or not. Times New Viking, the Columbus, Ohio threesome, will be making an appearance tonight at the Tritone in Philadelphia. Their debut full-length release called Dig Yourself on the recently resurrected Siltbreeze Records has sent the expected waves of praise for their anxiously tranquil bubblegum doom. Their guitar sounds as if it were played from the belly of a vacuum cleaner with outdated suction technology, the keyboards sound like a toy, and the vocals come through as if they were harmoniously wrung from a happily beaten soul, like they're frolicking to their deathbed. Under the muted glow of the recent revival of bedroom glum-beat, it's not hard to see the brilliance through the earmarked lingering clouds, and at the top of the heap these guys (and gal) seem to be holding the flag.
Psychedelic Horseshit, sounds like a grumpy old man's description of some mid-sixties hoopla, rather than a name of a band. Also hailing from Columbus Ohio, they pick up with the same melancholy exertion as their hometown cronies, Times New Viking, and with a split single on the horizon with them it seems as if they're like-minded, soul-quenching resonance will be soon set in stone, or at least wax. Digging up the muffled twang of a new folk contortion, Psychedelic Horseshit makes the overly used DIY theme seem like an obvious and moot exercise, because the further a sound eludes the unnecessary veneer and cushy production value, you realize it's covering an empty gesture with a gob of lipstick. Also on the bill is New Jersey's Homeblitz, making this a perfect show. Their first two self-released singles this past year shook the floor of any preconceived folk racket with an updated take on the same snot from Jonathan Richman before he became so cartoony.
