Funnily enough, it was none other than masters to the apprentices Yo La Tengo who nurtured the track’s sweetly charm when they performed a stripped back cover in late 2010. While Dancer Equired! doesn’t quite aspire for such levels of cleanliness, it does signal Time New Viking’s greatest leap yet away from the abrasive tape-hiss which characterised their body of work to date.
No Room To Live, by far the ‘cleanest’ cut on Dancer Equired!, possesses the most affecting chord progression I’ve experienced in a long while – the devastating simplicity of which becomes compounded tenfold by the group’s newfound restraint, generating a level of melancholy that is rivalled only by Beck’s Lost Cause. Conversely, the joyous belter Fuck Her Tears is delivered with such infectious euphoria that it’s impossible to label the chorus as anything resembling profane.
It’s that frenetic backbeat which carries most of the record. Without it, on tracks such as California Roll and More Rumours, the record struggles to keep its head above water. But as displayed on No Room To Live, those gentler moments can prove to be the most powerful.
I’m not sure how they do it, but Times New Viking have managed to generate a melodramatic response without resorting to melodrama. Maybe it’s just those heart-wrenchingly simple melodies, or the endearingly nonchalant vocal delivery. Whatever it is, I like it.
