Readers of this site know how very much I loved the last Young Guv album, Ripe 4 Luv. As I explained in my review of that record more than 2 years ago, Young Guv's variety of power-pop on that 2015 long-player was something fun and smart. And now, thank goodness, Ben Cook is finally back as Young Guv with a new release on Slumberland Records. "Traumatic"/"It Could Be Me" is the first in what I hope is a string of new releases from this guy and it's a superb indie-pop offering.
"Traumatic" comes on like a solo Lindsey Buckingham single, all perfect pop buffed to a fine sheen and expertly performed and produced. It is more Eighties-style AOR wizardry than it is three-chord power-pop and yet it's every bit as wonderful. If Young Guv is going to broaden his sound a bit, let him do it in this way, in an expert blending of a decade's worth of Top 40 hits and Reagan-era New Wave. The flip-side, "It Could Be Me", is more in the style of the title cut from Young Guv's last record, a bright patch of Halls and Oates-style pop mixed with a dash of the lightest-hearted numbers from Fountains of Wayne.
Both of these cuts are superb, as you can imagine if you heard even just one or two selections from Ripe 4 Luv in 2015, and I urge you to buy them now and get ready -- fingers crossed -- for more music soon from Ben Cook, AKA Young Guv.
"Traumatic"/"It Could Be Me" is out now via Slumberland Records.
[Photo: Video cap]