SCOTT MCCLOUD – MAKE IT TO FOREVER

There are sometimes moments that are the stuff of legend. They sometimes occur at dirty little bars on the Lower East Side of town when the unexpected happens. You might find yourself inebriated to the point of a coming reckoning. And this would only be the beginning of the evening, right before you head directly across the street to a performance space following the band and publicist you’ve been drinking with all night. An insane performance, and a reckoning would soon follow with a subway ride home. Phew!

Scott McCloud is no stranger to tales of legend, fronting the formidable post-punk outfit, Girls Against Boys, on and off throughout the years. The band had closed chapters of its life a couple of times throughout its existence and is still currently open for future releases whenever it sees fit. McCloud went on to form Paramount Styles, which ran concurrently alongside GVSB, and also featured GVSB’s Alexis Fleisig. The sound surrounding the music was mostly acoustic, sometimes sparse, but in-your-face rock early on, without the obligatory noisy explosions we all came to know GVSB for. It seemingly began as a slight extension of his other gig so to speak. Today, McCloud offers up his solo debut, Make It To Forever (God Unknown Records), where he follows some of the same formatting of early P. Style moments but here, there is a difference in tone & timbre.

Of course, there’s one constant throughout the album, and that’s McCloud’s movement of repetition. It works though, because while songs are repetitive, they don’t sound repetitious. That’s the difference. He may repeat phrases as well, but it doesn’t seem to matter because more of the same in this instance is warm & inviting. You might be moving in repetition with “Down Through The Stars,” with its haunting ethereal background vocals as McCloud plucks away at those notes of his guitar, while his lower-range spoken/sung vocals draw us all in closer. The song’s bassline may take a backseat, but it’s far from something that can be ignored, as it lays the foundation for the string arrangement that eventually circles around the track, much like a murder of crows awaiting a feast. There’s an elegance about the song; it drifts, it coasts straight through, but McCloud allows the song to take on a life of its own. There are no drums or percussion within it, but that’s left for “Moonlight Stagedive,” where he allows the rhythm to lead the way. But the manner in which he allows it to isn’t forceful, leaving room for a saxophone’s notes to spread across its atmosphere. As quickly as it begins, it disperses in just under 3 minutes.

It’s moments like that and “Come Around,” where there’s an escalation, a crescendo if you will, as instruments build around McCloud’s voice and guitar notes. Bass creeps in, alongside strings as the track becomes a bit more voluminous with breathy female vocals in the background as he sings, “Come around, just to get to know you, come around, just to drink a beer… and we’ll see if there’s something really here.” This is touching, offering listeners a reason to embrace the song itself. But it seems nothing really hits like “Somewhereness,” where he not only creates his own words, but captures a mood fitting for the time as instruments blend in seamlessly with one another playing off against each other, augmented with a catchy melody and when he sings, “Somewhereness, somebody cares about us, somewhere nice…someone else, somebody cares about us…” It’s crafted well and catchy AF.

I have to admit, McCloud is always doing something right. He’ll always receive the benefit of the doubt because of the groups he’s well known for, but based on his consistent recordings and now his first album with Make It To Forever, he continues to prove why you shouldn’t keep his name out of your mouth. His work and skill in piecing together track after track should be reason enough to sit back, chill, and throw on Scott McCloud.

GUV – WARMER THAN GOLD

Oddly enough, some moments flutter with unexpected feelings of nostalgia. When done poorly, it’s possibly the easiest way to lambast and be the most extremely critical, offering an assortment of colorful wording. Now, when done right, that’s a different story. It’s sometimes difficult to grab the right words that embody some of those feelings you get, unlocking fond memories of years past. Fortunately, that’s the case here.

GUV (fka Young Guv) is the embodiment of Ben Cook (ex-Fucked Up), who for the last 11 years has been releasing energetic pop songs wrapped in a punk ethos. This time around, Cook has decided to switch things up somewhat, still writing clever pop songs while embracing his love of a UK influence. GUV’s new release, Warmer Than Gold (Run For Cover Records) is as much an ode to his family’s influence as it is to UK sound(s). The feeling throughout much of the album will take you to the 90s, a time when you couldn’t walk past an album or an article about the next wave of British artists that would capture your hearts and ears. When listening to “Chasin Luv,” you’ll feel the eerie reminiscence of a group much like the La’s. If it’s going to remind you of anyone, you could do a lot worse than this band. The jangly guitar play and sweet vocal delivery are similar, but with GUV, yes, it’s a GUV song. Yes, comparisons are cheap, but it might be warranted here. That isn’t a dig on Cook and his songwriting; to the contrary, it’s quite the opposite. “Seaside Story” follows similar patterns, and vocally, sure, one might confuse this with an English artist, but hot damn, that’s right, it’s GUV, and it’s ripe for the taking.

No,w when you think you know what GUV is supposed to sound like, no, you’re going to come up short trying to figure that out and just understand: so long as the music is good, it doesn’t matter. This brings us to “Blue Jade,” quick in pace and filled with breathy melodies. “Blue Jade” can’t be directly traced back to one band; instead, it creeps around a movement that was the hurricane of Shoegaze, and GUV’s sound here is directly within its eye. The drums beautifully propel the wandering instruments make a hypnotic racket, and again, it is one of those that puts GUV right in the middle of the genre’s stormy weather. Yeah, its melody is ravishingly chaotic. Now, the title track slips through the crevices of the genre as well, but there is an unmistakable lineage here with Peter Hook-like bass noodling. While he and his family may have ties closer to Liverpool, thank the queen for Manchester! Is it Manchester or Madchester? Either way, there’s no way to avoid Cook’s unmistakable prowess in creating these songs.

While one could attempt to throw “Thorns In My Heart” into the comparative mix, this is GUV through and through. Sure, it may have a passing influence through its structure, but Cook lets us all know he’s not a carbon copy of anything or anyone. The melody throughout is infectious, but the song’s more captivating moment is in its chorus, where the momentum seems to shift with its percussion. But it is Cook’s sweet vocal delivery here that you won’t be able to let go of. You won’t be able to not hit that repeat button. GUV does get a bit fanciful, moving more into the dance culture that also engulfed the sounds of the time with “Hello Mis Blue,” filled with treated, distorted vocals and a quick-paced rhythm surrounded by guitars. It’s so pop-infused and bouncy, it doesn’t let go of your senses. It’s completely unrelenting.

You might get the idea that GUV is all over the place here, but strangely enough, Cook holds onto his project’s identity regardless of whichever direction he moves within or without. Warmer Than Gold is Cook trying something different with GUV and completely succeeding and moving effortlessly from one song to the next. That in and of itself is a beautiful thing.