The Corner Laughers: Concerns Of Wasp And Willow

photo: Sia Banihashemi and Tara Catherine Pandeya

The music of Californian indie pop quartet The Corner Laughers can be described in one word: wholesome. They are upbeat, optimistic and have a penchant for singing about nature's wonders, preferably the colourful ones. The band's songwriter and lead vocalist Karla Kane has a crystal delivery that could have been mistaken for a long lost singer from the heydays of the Laurel Canyon scene, when melodic folk became mainstream again.

On their new album Concerns Of Wasp And Willow they chose is a continue with the sound they crafted for its predecessor Temescal Telegraph in 2020: sunny-side up mostly and rife with wordplay to soften the serious concerns they sing about. Opener Terra Mia serves as a soft-spoken warning for ecological disaster. Enjoy watching the mighty Red Yarrow, Yellow Yarrow in full bloom before they become extinct. The most ambitious track on the album, Victoria Sponge, co-written with England's Fun Of The Pier members Huynh and Helen Luker, has a ghost telling stories about the history London, urging one and all to enjoy the little things and take could care of them. It is OK to be fragile, but looking out for each other is now more important than ever, now that the lunatics are running the asylum.

The Corner Laughers: Dusking

photo: Sia Banihashemi and Tara Catherine Pandeya

Californian indie pop quartet The Corner Laughers sing about that in-between time that separates the day from the night on their new single Dusking. The light is less brighter then and somehow this time frame has the ability to smoothen things out a bit and worries that might be troubling them take a backseat. O, and it works best when it coincides with travelling in a train.

The Corner Laughers: Rainbow Cardigan

photo: Sia Banihashemi and Tara Catherine Pandeya

Californian indie pop quartet The Corner Laughers have written a song about a beloved piece of clothing, a Rainbow Cardigan, that was bought by singer Karla Kane in a shop in Kendal, England. It helps her to chase the blues away when she is feeling a bit down.

Musically it is a friendly tug of war between minor and major chords in the true-and-tried baroque pop fashion, with a ukulele leading the way (seriously). Side note: former band member Angela Rhoades supplied a short burst of electric guitar, her first contribution in over a decade.

The Corner Laughers: "The Calculating Boy" video

The Corner Laughers have made a video for The Calculating Boy, a track from their Temescal Telegraph album: "[it] has West Coast written all over it, with its bright sound and crystal clear production. Accessible yet intricate and thoughtful songs, whose layers become more clear and mesmerizing after each listen - the musical equivalent of a kaleidoscope". The Californian power pop quartet used B&W stock footage from the Prelinger Archives.

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HCTF review of Temescal Telegraph

Big Stir Singles: The Sixth Wave

The Sixth Wave, the latest addition to CD series compiling the Digital Singles Series by the folks at Californian power pop label Big Stir Records, is another treasure trove of songs by bands from their roster. Starting out innocently enough the songs get more serious as the contributions from the social distance era enter the ring - Door by Paula Carino and Earn Enough For Us by Glowbox, dealing with loneliness and money trouble respectively. The Accepted Time by The Corner Laughers was written way before the shit hit the fan, but now the lyrics have a whole new meaning.

All worries aside The Sixth Wave is first and foremost a celebration of melodic, psych pop in all it guises: the deviant No by The Walker Brigade, the garage rocker Go For A Ride by Trip Wire, the chugging weirdness of Automatic Caution Door by Dolph Chaney, the don't give fuck attitude of Big Bang by Jim Basnight. As per usual all the A-sides are followed by the B-sides in the same running order. The choice for a song to be designed as either side is arbitrary. There are no throwaway filler tracks. This compilation is a gateway to bands you might not have heard of before. Prepare to be pleasantly surprised.

The Corner Laughers: Temescal Telegraph

Californian power pop quartet The Corner Laughers always had a healthy dose of folk into their songs. The band's songwriter and singer is a versatile ukulele player and this instrument is all over the songs on their new album Temescal Telegraph. Nature in all its facets and the passing of time are the main themes, with optimism and genuine worries playing catch. Changeling and The Accepted Time are like two sides of the coin, with the former being the younger version of the latter. They revisited two songs from Karla Kane's King's Daughters Home For Incurables, The Lilac Line and Skylarks of Britain, giving them the full band treatment and enhancing the latter with an extended psychedelic coda.

Temescal Telegraph has West Coast written all over it, with its bright sound and crystal clear production. Accessible yet intricate and thoughtful songs, whose layers become more clear and mesmerizing after each listen - the musical equivalent of a kaleidoscope.