Backing into (the) garage
While Rod was not the youngest of the governors, he did have the funniest name. Plus, Bobby Jindal just isn't the looker Mr. Blagovishkjlc=eri$ is!
In the ‘Y’ section of my iTunes library there is an artist whose placement between “Young Buck” and “Young Jeezy” might be slightly misleading. Said artist is two parts Jay Reatard, one part Rhino Records, and one part of the phenomenal-yet-unclassifiable band Fucked Up. So which ‘young’ musician is small and short and nubile enough to be the fourth Jonas Brother? Dear readers, allow me to introduce Ben Cook, A.K.A Bad Kid A.K.A Lil’ Bitey A.K.A Young Governor. That’s right bitches, The Marquis is back with more garage-punk groups that no one actually cares about!
Entering the popular musical arena as the front man for the amazingly influential hardcore group No Warning, Cook’s career took off after the release of Ill Blood, an album that seemed to determine what the rest of the decade’s big name hardcore bands would end up sounding like. However, shortly after their rise to fame, No Warning fell to shreds when the young group got too big too fast. The band was signed to Linkin Park’s personal label (this is not a funny cultural reference, No Warning was actually on the Linkin Park label Machine Shop Records), and promptly broke up after releasing the amazingly terrible album Suffer, Survive. They named it that because you totally had to SUFFER if you wanted to SURVIVE listening to it. Just kidding. But it was terrible.
Anyways, after a short bout of not doing too much (he played in a few hardcore punk bands here and there, including Millennial Reign and Violent Minds) Cook joined up with Fucked Up, playing guitar and doing back-up vocals here and there (Dance of Death, like two songs on Hidden World) before being officially inducted into their secret society during the 2nd half of 2007 (on the only super-mediocre release thus far by Fucked Up: David Christmas 7″). Cooks’ addition seemed to mark the moment that Fucked Up exploded out of the punk scene and into the ever popular “indie rock” scene, getting major music media attention for the spectacle that was David Christmas‘ b-side (you may recognize the writing style of that review… Marquis Meowmers is rad) before releasing “the 17th best album of the year” The Chemistry of Common Life. Essentially, Ben Cook made Fucked Up a bunch of asshole rock stars.
Though my love for Fucked Up is seemingly undying, we’re not here to explore Cook’s exploits as the third guitar player in the best band of the last decade (suck it Pitchfork). We’re here to examine his mind-blowingly awesome garage punk side project: Young Governor. The project, which is relatively new (circa 2009), is taking a direction that is eerily reminiscent of Blood Visions-era Jay Reatard, and while that might sound negative I find it comforting, as I often feel like the only person who wishes more Blood Visions-eque stuff existed. Featuring all types of jangly guitar riffs, 50’s-era rock and roll beats, and an energy that is “too legit to quit”, Cook bangs out songs about love and girls and self-loathing and all those other introspective, confessionalist topics that I can’t seem to get enough of. Though Young Governor’s catalog is small (2 7″ EPs and 1 5-song 12″ EP) everything that’s been released has been pure gold.
Honestly, Virginia Creeper 7″ might be the best EP of the year. I’m usually not one to obsess over songs for longer than a week, but every time I look at my iPod, trying to find a song to play while I drive to Mount Holyoke to pick up some chicks (read: go to class) the only thing that enters my mind is the up-beat, energetic, chopped up opening guitar riff of “Virginia Creeper.” Filled with excitement, the song comes off as a magnum opus of post-2000’s garage punk. Where as bands like The Dutchess and The Duke, Strange Boys Club, and the entire L.A-fi scene (Wavves, Miko Miko, Ty Segall, blah blah blah) try really hard to dip into recycled riffs in order to bring forth a nostalgic aesthetic, Cook only bases his energy in the proto-punk garage bands of the 60’s. Which brings me back to Jay Reatard’s Blood Visions, which also did an amazing job at feeling refreshingly new without relying on postmodern appropriation of the 60’s Rhino artists. Though Cook thoroughly separates himself from Reatards sound (mostly through the us of occasional psychedelic breakdowns) it’s safe to say that he has PROBABLY heard Blood Visions at least once.
Regardless, I urge you to take these songs and blast them as loud as you can in fitting tribute to Summer’s end.
Virginia Creeper – Young Governor (MF)(YSI)
25 With A Bullet – Young Governor (MF)(YSI)
“… as I often feel like the only person who wishes more Blood Visions-eque stuff existed.” You’re not. And yeah, Young Governor is awesome.