Handcream For A Generation [CD]

'Cornershop have Spilt. For good.' That was the headline three years ago when, fed up with the success surrounding their previous album (When I Was Born For The Seventh Time), and in-particular the worldwide smash,'Brimful of Asha', frontman Tjinder Singh and co-writer/guitarist Ben Ayers decided to call it a day. They went on to pursue serious side-projects (most notably Singh with 'Clinton') and it seemed that Cornershop were gone for good. Then, at the beginning of 2001 word began to trickle out that they were back together and that the recordings would be 'very-Stax influenced'. Well, all I can say is that very nearly hits the nail right on the head.
'Handcream For a Generation' is the sound of Booker T and the MGs landing right in the middle of the 21st century. Led by a man who is becoming a very cool weld of Lou Reed and Bob Marley. God, this is such an ambitious record it's hard to know where to place it in terms of genre. It celebrates the old whilst delivering the new.
Beginning and ending with 'Heavy Soup', this affectionate homage to 'Soul Kitchen' sounds so immediately fresh that it's hard to resist putting the track on again immediately. As is the case with the majority of this wonderful record. There is a constant feel of spontaneity within the grooves. You get the feeling throughout that 'anything could happen' and could be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a pirate radio station. It's as if the whole thing could collapse around Cornershop's ears at any moment (as on the false start of 'Motion the Eleven') but this only makes you will them on even more. Very rarely have I felt like leaping to my feet whilst listening to a record for the first time and shouting 'Go on, you can do it', but it happens several times during the course of the album. When you think of the 'musical growth rate' of this band from when they started, well, lets just say it's the opposite to 'Spinal Tap', yet rocks just as hard (check 'Lessons Learned from Rocky I to Rocky III').
This is a political album but it is shot through with the kind of humour and warmth not seen on a record since the days of Sly and the Family Stone. 'People Power' and 'The London Radar' are more disco than Pulp could ever dream of being. Sonically, the bands palate stretches for miles - uninhibited by any kind of desire to fit into any record companies marketing niche, although they state that, "They understand guns in the A&R office"(Wogs Will Walk). It is this kind of cheek that makes HFAG so marvellous. I don't know what Tjinder is singing on 'Spectral Mornings' but you can bet your bottom dollar it's a little bit naughty (If anyone knows, please post it up- I'd love to know the translation). Oh, and I'm putting money on 'Staging the Plaguing of the Raised Platforms' being a number one should they wish to release it. It's joyous.
There's just one problem. This album is going to be massive - worldwide - if there's any justice. So, will Cornershop live to make another record? Let's hope so. This might just be the best album by a British band since 'Screamadelica'.

I love 'When I was born...' so much I thought this new album would be a let-down, particularly after reading some of these other reviews. I bought it eventually - and to my ears it sounds just as good! And the lyrics are funny, clever, quirky and weirdly cross-referenced from song to song.

From the first song Heavy Soup, in which Otis Clay reads out some of the track titles like a proud showman, to the ridiculous intercom messages on The London radar, I was smiling at the unexpected all the way through.

And the music's great too, just as memorable and individual as the previous album. Cornershop are so distinctive and so bright with inspiration I can't imagine liking one album and not the other. Or indeed liking one more than the other.

The initial signs heralding the new Cornershop album were not exactly encouraging - it would be an extremely ambitious project, including a 14 minute epic featuring, of all people, Noel Gallagher on guitar. The warning signs may have been flashing but, mercifully, 'Handcream for a Generation' is an absolute hoot from start to finish. This is one of those rare records where the artists themselves have obviously had tremendous fun creating it and the end result is equally rewarding for the listener.

This is not to say that listening to this album isn't a challenge. It is riotously and obstinately eclectic - incorporating the dub reggae of 'Motion the 11', the Stones-esque swagger of 'Lessons Learned From Rocky I to Rocky III' and even deep house on 'Music Plus One', with plenty of good humour and sly cross referencing. They even get away with using a chorus of children on the ludicrously titled 'Staging the Plaguing of the Raised Platform' - in this context of wanton abandon it sounds much more intentionally comic than trite.

Ushered in with the heroic announcements of legendary soul singer Otis Clay, it is immediately apparent that this album is all about celebration, albeit with a wry comic sensibility and a social conscience. There's even a clever and cunning re-recording of the Clinton track 'People Power' that seems essential rather than superfluous. The aforementioned epic 'Spectral Mornings' is undoubtedly too long, but its dazzling display of psychedelic grpoves are not a manifestation of rampant indulgence, but rather the sound of a band improving their musicianship and broadening their sound.

Essentially, 'Handcream for a Generation' feels like both a summation and an update of all the celebratory sounds modern music has to offer. Tjinder Singh has created a genuinely multicultural soundclash that is provocative, highly entertaining and oddly coherent. It's what is commonly known as fun.