Tawny port? Vanity plates? Colonic therapy? Gilded harpischords? Screw 'em. In my estimation, nothing implies a grasp of this world's finer things more than a copy of Spectral Worship (1998), the final long-player from Guv'ner.

Brave words indeed. But then again, Spectral Worship is not merely a collection of killer songs loaded with more hooks than New York's meat-packing district. From the moment the tipsy harmonica and moog-driven title track swallows your stereo, it should be clear that Spectral Worship is an entirely different animal, even by Guv'ner's high standards.

In an age when most musicians in 'the scene' are prone to downplay their artistic range and ambitions in the name of credibility, Charles Gansa, Pumpkin Wentzel and drummer Danny Tunick swing for the fences and connect. The result is a record that confounds and astounds, alternating between the intensely personal and the crowd-pleasing. Songs weave from delicately arranged envelope folds of gentle pop ("Love the Lamp") to riff-driven three-piece thuggery ("Wounded Birds and Vampires Own the Edge") and back, often within the same song. These are the essences that combine to create the superior stink that is Guv'ner.

Don't believe me? Here's what a few others think about Spectral Worship:

"Now I know the meaning of a trip. If you want to take one, I urge you to listen to this!"
-Melvin Van Peebles, godfather of soul cinema

"The tone is unlike any I've ever heard - intimate yet sweeping, daring yet familiar. The arrangements? Spectacular. Instruments flow in and out of the mix courageously, but it all has a purpose. None of the flourishes and curveballs are thrown merely because they can be. It all makes sense."
-Ron Gola, industry analyst/social critic

"By far the hardest project I've ever recorded. Worth every punch-in and twice its weight in Monster Cable!"
-Nicolas Vernhes, co-producer of Spectral Worship

"Sounds like early Donovan."
-Ron Delsner/top promoter

The recording of Spectral Worship began at the Rare Book Room in Williamsburg, NY, in May of '97 and, like any other legendary session, has its share of rumors. In order to achieve a glorious vibe, Mr. Vernhes allegedly requested that Charles and Pumpkin make love during vocal takes for "Cooz Wax." Possibly related was hearsay that a doctor had to be called in to the studio. What can be confirmed is that Charles and Pumpkin married midway through the sessions and over the next 5 months cooked up a hearty paella of sound.

An excerpt from their secret recipe: the spicy vocal, a shank of fuzz bass in a zesty guitar marinade, a sprinkling of castanets, a smattering of nylon strings and a pinch of organic human whistles, all cradled on a bed of hoykie joykie drum rice. Revealing anymore would be to betray their confidence.

All of the painstaking work most definitely paid off, because Spectral Worship is a masterstroke, a fine thing to be savored, easily Album of the Year.

Tom Scharpling
WFMU DJ / Bio author, June 1998

Earl Grey Tea :: 7" (Gap Year) 1993
Hard For Measy For You :: (Ecstatic Peace) 1994
Knight Moves :: CDEP/DBL-7" (Merge) 1995
Nazarene :: CD5 (Radiation) 1995
The Hunt :: CD/LP (Merge) 1996
Break a Promise :: CD5 (Merge) 1996
In The Fishtank :: EP (Konkurrent) 1996
Spectral Worship :: CD (Merge) 1998