With little fanfare and even less commercial notice, Vancouver, British Columbia, emerged as the pop music scene du jour in the earliest years of the 21st century. From
Destroyer's
Thief to
the New Pornographers'
Mass Romantic -- and really almost anything else issued under the local Mint Records imprint, for that matter -- no other North American city released more truly great records pound for pound during the same time frame. Add
Young and Sexy's debut to the above list. Between frontman Paul Hixon Pittman's adenoidal vocals, witheringly cynical lyrics, and gorgeously
Beatlesque harmonies,
Stand up for Your Mother could well be a
Destroyer record, and that's high praise indeed. With Lucy Brain's winsome harmonies gilding the lily, these 12 songs are simultaneously beautiful and tough as nails -- and, given contemporary tastes, no doubt much too smart for their own good. ~ Jason Ankeny