Tag: The Corner Laughers

The Corner Laughers and Willie Nile

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The Corner Laughers

The Corner Laughers “Temescal Telegraph”

California’s tightest pop combo The Corner Laughers are like fresh lemonade on a summer day; cool and refreshing. The band is made up of veteran talent; Karla Kane (vocals/ukulele), Khoi Huynh (guitar/bass/vocals), Charlie Crabtree (drums), and KC Bowman (guitar/bass/piano.)

The music is a meticulously crafted mix of sunshine folk and power pop, “The Calculating Boy” starts as a character study, similar to XTC in its layered catchy structure and jangling rhythm.  Karla’s vocals lead the melody, but the remaining instrumentation holds it all together. The sing-along gem “Changeling” has a swaying beat and boasts a great guitar solo (it’s my favorite here). “The Accepted Time” is more serious, with hooks in verses about accepting life in the present. A few tracks are from Karla’s last solo album, but now given the full band treatment; best exemplified by “Sisters Of The Pollen” with those harmonic hums and buzzes. We don’t get some serious guitar buzz until the floral “Lord Richard” which plays like a rock madrigal. No filler here, as each song is accessible and deserves many listens. Highly Recommended.

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Willie Nile

Willie Nile “New York At Night”

There are so many musicians that define themselves as New York City bred, but Willie Nile owns that definition. He’s written and recorded many albums about NYC and its denizens, and his love for the place always comes through in each song. The theme “New York Is Rockin'” opens the album like a passionate response to Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” It mentions all the boroughs, sports teams, and local heroes (The Ramones). It will get even jaded city dwellers singing along.

The blues-rock guitar and Nile’s raspy vocal work to great effect on “The Backstreet Slide” as he channels both Bo Diddley and Lou Reed. “Doors of Paradise” slow synth rhythm is both calming and catchy as Nile mentions that those doors “swing both ways.” The title track is another effective rocker and “Surrender The Moon” keeps the monologue of nighttime life in NYC going strong. Nile’s ballads are stylistically comparable to Bruce Springsteen, “Under This Roof” being a standout. A solid effort and highly recommended.

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Freebie Singles and LP previews: The Well Wishers, Ken Sharp, Chinofeldy, The Britannicas, Explorer’s Club, The Corner Laughers,Sunshine Boys

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The Easter bunny dropped off some wonderful music in my inbox this week. Rather than hide them I’d like to share these goodies with you…

The Well Wishers reflect on flection, hope, family, and charity…all bolstered by a four-minute blast of uplifting power-pop melodicism.

Ken Sharp is offering a message of hope for a world and sales go to the United Way Worldwide’s COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund, which provides relief to those left vulnerable by the pandemic.

Chinofeldy is the brainchild of Joe Kane and Marco Rea, two of Glasgow’s most prolific songwriter/producers. Very much in the spirit and sound of classic 10cc, I love this joyous melody about just “staying home.” A FREEBIE!

The Britannicas are a musical collective; Herb Eimerman, Joe Algeri, Magnus Karlsson and Stefan Johansson. They specialize in jangling guitar melodies that sound great. A FREEBIE!

The Corner Laughers‘ new album is coming soon! Here is a sweet track to entice you to preorder.
Sunshine Boys have a new album coming soon! I love the catchy melody here, “Summertime Kids” is a winner.

The Explorer’s Club will be planning to release two (2) albums! One is a covers album represented by the Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart classic “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight?” – the other is just original penned tunes represented by “Ruby.”

Big Star “Complete Third” and Friends & Frenemies

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Big Star

Big Star “Complete Third”

Big Star’s third album is a big deal in that it appealed to fans outside of its loyal power pop base, and its raw emotions cemented the band’s legend. At this point the band was cut in half, with Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens doing what they really wanted, commercial considerations be damned. Chilton’s lyrics showcase deep depression and frustration, and his vision was highly influential in the development of alternative rock, still felt decades later.

Recorded in 1974 but not released for the first time until 1978, Third would be subsequently re-released, renamed and re-sequenced many times over the years. While some demos and alternate versions and mixes of songs have dribbled out on various compilations, all extant recordings made for the album are presented for the first time on Complete Third. This definitive collection boasts 69 total tracks, 29 of which are previously unheard session recordings, demos and alternate mixes made by producer Jim Dickinson and engineer John Fry. The set allows the listener to track the creation of the album from the original demos, through sessions and rough mixes, to the final masters of each song. The box set contains extensive notes from original participants and artists influenced by Big Star. It’s comparable to The Beach Boys Pet Sounds Sessions in terms of its thoroughness.

While this may be overkill for the casual fan, this is a “must have” for serious Big Star fans and music audiophiles. Highly Recommended.

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Mystery Lawn Music

Assorted Artists “Friends & Frenemies”

Mystery Lawn is a Northern California label that’s home to many great West Coast power pop bands like The Orange Peels, The Agony Aunts, The Corner Laughers, Anton Barbeau and more. But what I love about a compilation like this is I can discover other bands I have not heard before like The Variable Stars on “The Lights Above Los Gatos” and the light airy vocals of Arts & Leisure on “Can’t Breathe.” And its not all rock and pop, examples of classical (Henry Plotnick) or folk guitar (Black Butterfly Gang) are featured too.

If you dig harmonies and female lead vocals you will love The Flywheels (“Counting To Eleven”) and Alison Faith Levy (“Rainbow Tunnel”) who clearly channels Jackie DelShannon. While not everything here is as infectious as “Oh Please” from the brilliant Marshall Holland, I didn’t really find a really bad track among the 18 songs on display here, and many are exclusive – so pick this one up! Highly Recommended.

Bandcamp exclusive

The Corner Laughers “Matilda Effect”

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The Corner Laughers

The Corner Laughers “Matilda Effect”

San Francisco sunshine pop band The Corner Laughers are back and lead singer Karla Kane continues to mesmerize us with her bright clear vocals. After lending her voice for the Agony Aunts album, she serves up this feminist concept LP. The album’s title, Matilda Effect, is a reference to the phenomenon of female scientists being overlooked in favor of their male colleagues.

With her cat-eye glasses and ukulele, Karla plays the sugar-voiced fairy on “Fairytale Tourist” asking to be treated with respect or “let me go.” Then “The Girl, America”, written by psych-pop fav Anton Barbeau is a jangling melody about sexism in radio. The tempo remains quick for “Octavia A” with a sweet McCartney styled bass line and a big highlight here is “Queen of the Meadow” about under credited astronomer Henrietta Leavitt.

Backed up by the combo of guitarist KC Bowman, Khoi Huynh on bass and Charlie Crabtree, on drums, the production is both polished and bouncy fun. Things slow a bit with the harmonizing march “Midsommar” and light lullaby “Lammas Land,” but pick up with the doo-wop rhythm on “Go Fly Your Kite.” Its both quirky and cheery pop that deserves more fans. Highly Recommended.
power pop

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Agony Aunts “Big Cinnamon”

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It’s been too long, but the Bay Area supergroup returns after 2010’s Greater Miranda, with even more harmony-laden psych-pop.  The band is basically The Corner Laughers; KC Bowman, Karla Kane , Khoi Huynh, and Charlie Crabtree. Add to this many guest stars including Gil Ray (The Loud Family), Anton Barbeau and Allen Clapp (The Orange Peels). So can all those cooks spoil this brew? Not likely.

Opening with the kaleidoscopic “Twenty-four Mergansers” it’s a lot like the Laughers with a bit more Magical Mystery Tour thrown in. Then it follows up seamlessly with “Family Drugs,” the lyrics repeating over with crisp harmonies on the “bottle it up” backing chorus. The psychedelic sheen on everything is comparable to The Pillbugs on the title track. And if you ever wondered what a modern day Mamas and Papas would sound like, listen to “Back To Back Bills.”

The second half is more rock oriented, those dual tracked guitars stand out on the perfect “We Got The Jekyll.”  Raspberries fans will flip for the intro on “Uranium My Love,” a riff heavy melody full of hooks about science. Its not predictable either, “You’re So Vague” is like a combo of Todd Rundgren and The Explorers Club. It ends with the mysterious story behind “Cool Fresh Nights” and Barbeau’s quirky country “Trouble Was Born.” Not trace of filler to be found, production is clean and sounds great through headphones, so its hard to not love this album. Multiple listens make it better and it makes my top ten for 2013 easily. Get it now!
power pop review score 9

Bandcamp | Amazon