Stay Awake, Times New Viking's new 7" EP, is the band's third release since Matador made 'em into big-time indie-rock bidness. Thankfully, and kinda surprisingly, the group's well-publicized sonic edges remain as rough as ever. TNV still buries its blissfully infectious organ-and-guitar-based pop songs under layers of grime and white noise. Stay Awake, like all of the band's music, sounds like Clean songs recorded in a jet engine. This record's a bit top-heavy with disgustingly great and hook-filled hits "Call & Respond" and "Pagan Eyes," two songs that rank alongside the best stuff on the last LP. Side two drags the mood down at first, with the sluggish and inert "No Sympathy," but a triumphant footing is quickly regained with the anthemic "Sick and Tyred," the record's final and best song. A lot of folks might struggle to make it through the (carefully cultivated) apparent lack of production value, but anybody who can handle a bit of fuzz (and especially fans of older Guided by Voices) should be ecstatic.

Garrett Martin