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Cornershop - Handcream For A Generation Around 1994 Cornershop released a track called Born Disco and Died Heavy Metal which could accurately describe their new album Handcream For A Generation. Tjinder Singh seems to be pulling Cornershop in the direction of every musical genre he can think of, creating a CD full of cool tunes but ultimately schizophrenic and disorientating.
One minute Cornershop are heading for the dancefloor with Music Plus 1, a track most DJs would be happy to pull out of their record bag, the next Tjinder thinks he's Marc Bolan with a trip down memory lane for the authentically 1970s sounding Lessons Learned From Rocky I to III. The effect is like a compilation mix tape gone mad, or the soundtrack to a movie by a director who wants to cram it full of as many cultural references as he can.
It's exciting, and you're never sure what you're going to get next, but doesn't make for the most cohesive listening experience (as I write this Cornershop have slipped into heavy dub reggae mode with Motion The 11 followed by the convincing Disco sounds of People Power...)
What holds the album together over the course of 13 tracks is the strong music and lyrics and confident production from Tjinder. For those who may have found When I Was Born For The 7th Time a little light, Tjinder has grabbed all the controls on the mixing desk and pushed them to 11.
This is most evident in the standout track, Spectral Mornings, a refreshingly uncheesy mesh of Santana rock workout and sitar. It pounds and writhes, racing along breathlessly, sounding like the track Kula Shaker always wanted to write but never managed. Guitarist Noel Gallagher guests, bringing the same magic he does to the Chemical Brothers, but which seems curiously lacking on recent Oasis releases.
I can't help wondering what a whole album of muscular tracks like Lessons Learned From Rocky I to III and Spectral Mornings would sound like...
In the final analysis, Cornershop just about pull it off, creating an offbeat album which is more a musical journey than a musical statement. And the good thing is - and you can't say this about most albums - if you don't like the current track, skip it, because you're bound to like the next one.
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