Sauna Youth on Static Shock Records

These days I'm getting so many digital singles sent my way, it's getting impossible to keep up with the physical records that come in and the emails! But when your band name is a play on Sonic Youth, well you have my attention. Heading over to check out Sauna Youth's soundcloud page it ended up being a heavy, catchy indie pop full of thick chord changes and lots of lady harmonies, so I had to pull this one out of the inbox to mention these tracks.

For "False Jesii Pt. II" the press release said this is a big departure from their full length Dreamlands, but this grungy guitar and direct in, vibrating metal string bass sound is a little peek at the crunchy, indie-jangle sound... but not delicate, this has a big distortion footprint. The vocals are where this goes straight into a twee/late '90s Blood on the Wall, Yuck place and beyond. It's a real cute indie rock for Valentine's but the chorus harmony comes out the otherside into Frankie Rose territory, with a line straight back to sha na na's. It's reminding me of that clean, crisply produced Pixies sound from the late '90s and the reference to Sonic Youth is perfect now... this whole scuzzy mess keeps ending up with another layer on top of it. Along with more of these angelic vocals now doing three and four part harmonies, almost getting bigger than that straight groove.

B-sides "Oh Joel" has a dirtier sound and the vocals even have a thin slice of distortion, but it's that kind of fast fun pop, like Dog Day... and these harmonies?! These ladies sound like The Pens fused to the Go Gos. An effortless kind of punk... sweeter than Midnight Snaxxx but it's because they've been mining those Dino jr, and Sebadoh sounds. The demos for this stuff must be fantastic. It's really a complete package, both of these are A-sides, when someone like Sauna Youth hits both out of the park, it's really something special. Every day is anther birthday. It reminds me of the stuff Oddbox was introducing constantly. Are they a really polished version of the Besties, that sort of carfree empty loft space pop?

The site is down at the moment but email staticshockrecords AT gmail for info and ordering this...careful you'll be paying overseas shipping prices. Keep an eye on these guys.

Young Governor on plastic idol records

This weirdly disturbing sleeve comes courtesy of Ben Cook, one of the/lead guitars that make up the band 'Fucked Up'.
I've been listening to that Whats Your Rupture' latest Year of the Rat 12", and I don't even know where to begin...it's a new direction for hardcore in general that's for sure. It takes some time for me to get past the Mighty Bosstones style vocals...everytime I hear this guy I think of that 'ever have to knock on wood' song...god dammit, now it's stuck in my head. It's that hardcore voice that's been smoking non filters for years, and he's angry, hasn't slept in days, and probably is thirsty. LIstening to it is like someone yelling at you for 15 minutes.
I'm not saying I'm not angry...I have my moments, but I tend to put something else on at the end of the day, call me old.
Young Governor is going somewhere else entirely, this is working with all the garage punk stuff that's been happening lately. Bands like Tyvek, King Khan, Hank IV, Cheap Time. The guitar is the lead...the focal point of the tracks, simplified vocals that just have to sound good hung all over the crunch fast tempo distortion. Kind of a blues distortion..it's almost Shellac in guitar tone on the virginia creeper track, that kind of sound that is so distinctive, really gated, all overdriven, almost turning into it's own unique instrument. It's not a guitar anymore. Combine all this with the garage...short punk where the vocals are just a little distorted, the drums have this perfect room sound that's really deep, maybe eq-ed deeper after the fact...or just boosted to the point of hiting the red. Very reminiscent of Ty Segall's solo release...it's really similar...this Virginia Creeper track anyway.
Mostly it's really illuminating to hear this individual voice from that enigma known as Fucked Up.


YOUNG GOVERNOR is Ben Cook (FUCKED UP, MARVELOUS DARLINGS, NO WARNING, VIOLENT MINDS, etc.), and this is his debut solo record. "Virginia Creeper" and "I'm a Mess" were laid down by the Governor at East End Reclusives, in Toronto, Canada, a dumpy practice space responsible for an impressive amount of recorded work in recent years. Although more pop-infused than the hardcore stylings of Ben's present/past, Young Governor solo is arguably as raw and unpredictable as anything he's done, if not more so. The needle-pegged, hyperactive pop of "Virginia Creeper" and "I'm a Mess" offer a glimpse of the Governor's 2009 agenda, and frankly, teasers don't get any better than this. Pressed on beautiful lavender vinyl with a full-color sleeve (layout by Matt Wong), limited to 750 copies.

It's 5.50 from plastic idol records.

Another single is coming soon on Static shock also...maybe march.