There WERE good things that happened away from all that Britpop balls. And Cornershop were one of them.
There WERE good things that happened away from all that Britpop balls. And Cornershop were one of them.
(Ample Play Records)
For those of a certain age, listening to this easy listening reworking of the classic Cornershop debut, Hold On It Hurts is a trip to a land that might as well have never existed. The insouciance, confidence and fun of the mid 1990s seems like a fantastic dream now. Somehow this old LP, with its shiny new coat of ‘sonic paint’ (sic!) encapsulates all thhat was good about them, and the times. People DID have fun, wore safari suits and drank cocktails listening to Alan Hackshaw or Kraftwerk. Seriously. There WERE good things that happened away from all that Britpop balls. And Cornershop were one of them; as witnessed by the incredible work outs the originals get on here. How good is Born Disco; Died Heavy Metal for instance?
You get the lot in this easy reworking. Horns, funny chorus lines, FLUTES, French vocals that could mean anything, fast paced beats with the accent of soul tinged with the tabla rasa of The Mysterious East; it’s all here. As is that whiff of cheeky nostalgia that powered the easy listening boom. Change – with its sweeping orchestration and flute refrain – could be a cut from The Sound Gallery Volume 1 itself. And the closer, You Always Said My Language Would Get Me Into Trouble could come from a Jack Hawkins ‘Psychedelic Sounds of the Seventies’ gig in Blackpool. Acers. Cheesy or what.
A record you should just relax to – the world can wait.