Daily Listen by Brian Brock

Times New Viking - Live at Modified in Phoenix 29 November 2008

Times New Viking is my new favorite band.  They wallop such enormous ass it’s like they are friends with the class clown in a school for fat kids.  “Kick me” signs printed on Kinko’s’s full assortment of paper colors pour out of their amplifiers like rainbows of blood.  Don’t worry, it’s actually ketchup, made from heirloom tomatoes and sea salt.

The band is completely in the moment but executing very well prepared ideas.  They come out of chaos on a dime and switch gears at will.  They have real songs, and can play their instruments.

The crowd was super-excited.  Right in front of me, a few cool kids straight out of the cool-kid catalog (hair scragged, goofy smiles, talking full of ideas) were ready to mosh, but only ironically.  They waited a couple of songs, then began jostling each other.  Then they “moshed”, disappearing briefly into a mess of bodies - then they were just standing again, having referred to a known quantity to a satisfying degree while staying far enough removed for coolth.

Modified exemplifies what I look for in a venue.  There’s nothing precious about it, there’s plenty of places to be, and it’s easy to get in and out of.  You can escape in two directions, because the main area is shaped like a donut - the bathroom is in the middle, which is a little smelly, but whatever it’s ***k rock.  I suspect this shape, combined with the plywood floor, is what leads to the decent acoustics.

In a rare case of actually having my head in the right place at the right time, I recorded this show.  Here is a .zip with mp3s all nicely edited for you.  Use it wisely.

http://www.mediafire.com/?wxjhjnzkmzk

Deerhunter also played.  It felt like watching the Beatles and Pink Floyd play back to back, or Sonic Youth and Joy Division.  Deerhunter was way too loud, though.