Face Shredders

Last week I caught the indie rock triple threat of Times New Viking, No Age and Los Campesinos! as they made a stop in London at the Electric Ballroom on their Shred Yr Face tour.

Los Campesinos! were technically the headliners and the Ballroom represented their largest indoor gig yet. Unfortunately, the venue sucks balls. It's got the ambiance of an airplane hangar, multiple leaks in the roof and dismal acoustics. Plus the door staff didn't seem to know how the guest list or online ticketholders should be dealt with, forcing everyone to line up together one giant queue. In any case, all three bands were solid and played lengthy sets. Cardiff indie poppers Los Campesinos! offered up a number of songs from new album We Are Beautiful We Are Doomed (released October 27th) along with a handful of classic cuts from debut Hold On Now, Youngster... and all were well-received by the jubilant crowd.

In my humble opinion Times New Viking's performance was the most engaging, but then again they are one of my absolute favourite bands so I'm probably biased. Oh yeah, and No Age were great as well.

Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful We Are Doomed
Times New Viking - Drop-Out
Times New Viking - Mean God
No Age - Eraser

Gareth of Los Campesinos! rocking out with Times New Viking:

Contest - Times New Viking, July 1st - Horseshoe Tavern

Times New Viking aren't everyone's cup o' tea. But if maintaining your ear drums isn't high on the list of this month's priorities, then I certainly suggest checking the lo-fi three-piece when they come celebrate Canada Day like only a group of Ohians (Ohio-ians?) can, July 1st at the Horseshoe. Their third album (and first with Matador), Rip it Off, came out at the beginning of the year and has a lot of people excited about the return to fuzz rock.

ATG has given us two pairs of tickets to dish out to the boys and girls who read our blog. So send us an email with the subject "Times New Viking are in my head". Do so before noon on June 29th.

I, for one, am particularly anxious to hear what they sound like when they're not recording music as though they're hanging out in cold basement apartment with a tape recorder from 1961.

I suspect it might sound something like these Daytrotter sessions, recorded in May.

Times New Viking - Mean God (Daytrotter Session)
Times New Viking - The Apartment (Daytrotter Session)

- bbbykmbrly.

Contest: Stag & Dagger, May 15 - London

Thanks to the kind folks at VICE Magazine UK, Bridging the Atlantic has 2 passes to Stag & Dagger to give away to a couple of lucky Londoners. The brand spanking new one day festival takes place in lovely Shoreditch next Thursday, May 15th, from 6pm to midnight and features over 100 acts including SebastiAn, Cadence Weapon, Times New Viking, 1990s, Black Lips, Jay Reatard, A-Trak, Slow Club, The Mae Shi, Diplo, Busy P, Operator Please, Atlas Sound, the debut performance of the new Hot Chip side project Booji Boy High, plus the Ed Banger Records crew. More info is available through the Stag & Dagger myspace page. The winner's passes will include free entry to all shows in each of the festival's 15 venues.

To enter, email us with the subject line "it's about damn time you jerks gave away festival tickets" before 3pm on May 12th.

SebastiAn - Dog
Atlas Sound - Recent Bedroom
Black Lips - O Katrina!
The Mae Shi - Run To Your Grave
Hot Chip vs Diplo - Shake A Fist
Booji Boy High - Doubleshaw

- a.m.p.m.

Times New Viking is in (My Head)

Why are Times New Viking so awesome? Maybe because they sound like The Go! Team, Sonic Youth and the Velvet Underground jamming together in your friend's basement. The Columbus, Ohio band's 3rd album Rip It Off was released by Matador on January 22nd and pretty much every song is stellar. Get it here.

Times New Viking is at the Mod Club in Toronto on February 20th with Jeffrey Lewis and Super Furry Animals.

Times New Viking - Drop-Out
Times New Viking - (My Head)

- a.m.p.m.