Times New Viking, Mercury Lounge NY

are the current heirs to (and most recent wunderkind,) lo-fi scuzz rock. Now most of the adjectives used in that last sentence have already been used to describe these Ohioans, but that’s because they’re the hallmark descriptors for a sound this young band has resurrected and embodies.

For Siltbreeze, and now Matador, Times New Viking must seem like a godsend. Clawing their way out of the relatively flat center of Ohio, and clinging to one of the peaks of indie rock fame, is no small feat. To do so with a batch of psychically-addled songs that sound like they’re played through your grandfather’s ham radio and recorded on a five-dollar child’s tape recorder, is nothing less than heroic.

However, the first half of the band’s set belies their age. They come out contentious, playing as fast as they can, leaving much of their melodies strewn by the wayside. Onstage, the boys’ jeans are tight enough to make you pity their manhood, and keyboardist Brix E. Smith keeps her dark hair calculatedly over her face. They seem intent on peeling away the last twenty-five years to step firmly into the D.C hardcore scene.

On one hand it is difficult to shake the belief that TNV feel they have something to prove, a feeling helped along by minor on-stage infighting about song beginnings and set-list. On the other hand it’s hard not to get swept up in the sneer of three kids who obviously revel in having just crawled out of their tour van.

During the second half of their set the musicians succumb to their more palatable tendencies with a visibly bratty acquiescence. Clumping songs like ‘teenageLUST’, ‘My Head’, and ‘No Time, No Hope’, get the crowd moving more than their slightly brutal first selections. Yet there is surprising lack of thrash throughout the evening.

It’s difficult to admit, but the charm of Times New Viking shines a little brighter during their poppier moments. ‘Call and Respond’, marries a piercing and freakishly ingraining three-note keyboard riff, with simple cymbals crashes, and a guitar riff that is at times restrained and driving. The aforementioned ‘teenageLust’ is probably the most perfectly chantable representation of any adolescent desire.

It’s songs of this caliber that keep a sense of adventure in TNV’s music, while distinguishing them from just another backyard garage band. It’s the underlying feeling of discovery that ensures they have a few more mountains to climb.