‘Where It’s Quiet’ (12XU 031-1) is the latest and most expansive Young Guv effort to date from Toronto’s Ben Cook (Fucked Up, Marvelous Darlings, The Bitters) ; the homemade pop brilliance sounds slightly less homemade this time around. Not quite factory made, however. I’m thinking medium sized workshop, possibly one with a really powerful vacuum cleaner. Razorcake’s Todd Taylor likens the Young Guv oeuvre to “the same electric, adventurous mind-boggling ven of Jeff Burke’s Potential Johns, Jay Reatard and Mark Sultan’s solo works and Mark Ryan’s Mind Spiders…melodic aggression. Tattered yet clear glory.”
Heady company to be in? Kinda. But thru a succession of prior releases for labels including (but not limited to) Parts Unknown, Plastic Idol, Dirtnap, Criminal IQ and Southpaw, Ben’s already established that he’s more unpredictable than Johnny Rodz (and way more prolific). As much as we’ve played this one to death at 12XU HQ, future works are likely to be an even bigger deal.