I find Times New Viking easy to ignore. Being a former Ohioan, one might think I love this band for bringing some shine to the Heartland, but I was always more akin to ex-state-triates like Eat Skull's Rob Enbom.
But oh, the irony. Times New Viking won my attention with its latest “Move To California” 7″, which features two songs from the infamous Stay Awake Revisited cassette, while the title track and “City of Drugs” are on TNV's debut on Matador, Born Again Revisited.
Times New Viking, “Move To California”
As an ex-state-traite myself, this song invokes memories of time with friends in Ohio, as we regularly whined of nothing to do, romanticizing the Golden State as a more happening place to live. After a year of living in California, I can say with confidence to the Ohioans I left behind that they are not guaranteed to have a better time.
This song and these sentiments won't stop Ohio kids from nomadic dreams of getting the fuck out of the Buckeye State, as the song will probably suffer a gross amount of juvenile misinterpretation. I also enjoyed how little this video has to do with Yo La Tengo and everything to do with TNV injecting a landmark Columbus record store Lost Weekend into the lives of YLT fans who will never go there, let alone understand its local significance. Here's hoping the next video is shot in Magnolia Thunderpussy!
Born Again Revisited is out September 8 on Matador.
