Maybe it’s because of all of the recent "Go Green" hype, or maybe it’s because of the swell in homeland hope and pride that accompanies an upcoming presidential election, but whatever the reason, one thing is clear: America is ready to clean up its act!

And we’re starting with those Columbus, OH speaker-wreckers Times New Viking. Over the past several years, these sludgy noise-poppers have been dumping their noise-polluted records, most recently their Matador Records debut Rip It Off (TMT Review), and no one has had the courage to stand up to their skuzzy onslaughts.

But now, at long last, a new day is dawning. No longer will the United States look the other way about Times New Viking’s catchy brand of noise pollution. That’s why we’re packing them up, cramming them onto a cargo ship, and depositing them (safely) on the other side of the Atlantic. And do you know what else? We’re even packing up their dirty, dirty records and shipping them overseas too! That’s right, as part of its community service, Matador is spearing-up all of the Rip It Off copies it can find along the side of the highway and shipping them over to the UK on April 28 (where, presumably, they can be recycled into lightweight furniture for Thom Yorke’s solar-powered summer house).

Now if only we could pass a bill to clean up all those Dirty Projectors, we’d be in business.

Good riddance to rad rubbish:

05.09.08 - London, UK - Proud Gallery 05.11.08 - Camber Sands, UK - ATP vs. Pitchfork 05.14.08 - London, UK - Cafe Otto 05.15.08 - London, UK - Old Blue Last (Stag & Dagger Festival) 05.16.08 - Brighton, UK - Great Escape Festival 05.18.08 - Cardiff, UK - Clwb Ifor Bach (The Welsh Club) # 05.20.08 - Liverpool, UK - Korova * 05.21.08 - London, UK - Corsica Studios 05.22.08 - Leeds, UK - The Common Place 05.23.08 - Edinburgh, UK - Studio 24 05.24.08 - Glasgow, UK - Captain’s Rest 05.26.08 - Dublin, IE - Andrew’s Lane Theatre

* Thanks Hari! # Thanks Kevin!