Times New Viking – Dancer Equired

Since their formation in Columbus, Ohio in 2005, Times New Viking have notched up five albums – an impressive work rate, and one which reflects their capacity to imaginatively tinker with what is essentially a fairly simplistic lo-fi indie rock blueprint. Dancer Equired presents few surprises: battered, cardboard-box drums, weedy guitars (by turns fuzzy and jangly), and wobbly boy/girl vocal combinations are all present as usual.

If change is noticeable here it's in the production, which is less frazzled than on previous releases, allowing each cut more space to breathe. For tracks like Fuck Her Tears, which recalls Quickspace's joyful krautrock-inflected fuzzpop, that approach works; yet much of Dancer Equired is lacking in the melodic inspiration that TNV's music needs. The resulting fourteen tracks feel wearisome well before they're up; you can't help thinking it might be worth slowing the assembly line down a little. [Sam wiseman]