Memorial Day may have been the laziest day of the year. Between the searing heat, the oppressive humidity and the collective day off, the population of D.C. had moved to a pace that was sluggish at best. Times New Viking might as well have rolled their eyes at the climate conditions. Yes, drummer/singer Adam Elliott made a quick comment from the stage about the heat, but their set came across like a series of the snarky one-liners they inserted between their songs: quick, forceful and brilliant.

Times New Viking’s affiinity for lo-fi recording and overbearing fuzz was cleaned up a little for their latest album, Dancer Equired!. Yet for the Backstage show, Adam Elliott, singer/keyboardist Beth Murphy and guitarist Jared Phillips still managed to sound like they were playing from inside of some sonic fog. They certainly didn’t go into nails-on-chalkboard levels of scuzz they produced on Rip It Off, but the vocals were never entirely discernible, blending into the ’90s college radio inspired melodies.

Dancer Equired! accounted for much of the nineteen-song set list, but Times New Viking surprised the crowd with a few deep cuts like Rip It Off‘s “The Early ’80s”, “Faces on Fire” and one of their earliest songs, “Busy Making Love and War”. The transitions between the new and old songs were relatively seamless and the crowd hung on to every scuzzy distorted note, answering with head banging. This seemed to surprise the band — when they came back for their encore, Murphy and Elliott each asked the audience “are you sure?”

Admittedly, Phillips started having some technical problems with four songs to go. He tossed his guitar to the floor after Equired! standout “F*** Her Tears”, picking up another (presumably borrowed from openers The Babies) in order to finish the set. Then, a couple of measures into their cover of Half Japanese’s “The Thing With the Hook”, they aborted the encore as Phillips’ second guitar failed to make a sound. That said, it was hardly a failed set. While the noise (or a newfound lack there of) is the most prevalent element of Times New Viking’s two-minute compositions, it’s their onstage energy and chemistry that make them a must-see act.