GUV: Warmer Than Gold (silver nugget coloured vinyl) LP

"Warmer Than Gold", the new album from Ben Cook's project GUV, is a document of a life in music, a critical and celebratory travelogue, an attempt to transcend the homogeneous and status-obsessed conditions of the contemporary world through the use of big beats, big choruses, and distortion. And most of all, with its expanded sonic palette and emphasis on breakbeats, it ushers in the newest era of an artist who has never stopped growing. Cook, who grew up moving between Toronto and England, is a member of the hardcore band No Warning and was a member of punk experimentalists Fucked Up, from 2007 to 2021 - and all the while he built a deep and impressive catalog of solo work first as Young Governor, then Young Guv, and now simply, GUV. "Warmer Than Gold" retains the hooky spirit of Cook's previous records but it adds a decidedly rhythmic element informed by classic Madchester and Britpop. What is retained from those earlier power pop releases is the artist's sharp ear for hooks; now combined with a recharged production sensibility inspired by everyone from the Beastie Boys to The Field Mice to Primal Scream.