Nice to see Philly?s Siltbreeze back in the game, and with fresh digs to boot! Cleveland?s Times New Viking is a young trio (fuzz guitar, casio, drums) that sincerely wants its audience to remember what fun really is and maybe even bounce around while digging on their righteously damaged pop skree. What we get on ?The Paisley Reich? is minimal art punk occasionally set into orbit via righteous fuzz bursts by electric guitar extraordinaire, Jared Phillips. And there?s sexy/sassy girl/boy vocals (courtesy of keyboardist Beth Murphy and drummer Adam Elliot) that balance gritty passion with dope-fucked ferocity and still manage to sound catchy as a rainbow colored beach-ball at a Who concert (where no doubt dozens of innocents are being trampled to death in the mad rush for the stage). It?s all coated in a splendidly warped cloud of lo-fi howls and muddy feedback that only help to make the razor sharp hooks cut that much deeper. Any band that can make a memorial to John Lennon sound as infectiously joyous as ?Imagine Dead John Lennon? (set to the melody of ?Birthday? no less!) or a love song like ?Devo and Wine? sound both rabid and deeply sincere has got to be worth your time and money in the y2k7. The ramshackle chaos of their debut, ?Dig Yourself,? was about as inspired as it was abrasive, but with ?The Paisley Reich? the leaps are practically quantum and the melodies downright timeless. It?s the kind of record that made me fall for this underground/indie thing in the first place. Cool stuff for fans of early Wire, The Fall, 3Ds and Ohio art punk of all kinds--Guided By Voices included. Their next album will even be on Matador. Pretty sweet. 8/10 -- Lee Jackson (3 July, 2007)