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Amazon.co.uk Review
On paper it looks dauntingly over-ambitious, and in the hands of any other band it probably would be. But Singh has a talent for finding universal accessibility at the heart of any genre, and a pathological fear of the clichéd and portentous. So Handcream begins with deep soul singer Otis Clay making the introductions on "Heavy Soup", cranks up a hoary old Stones riff for an extended rant about the music biz on "Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III" and even finds a use for Noel Gallagher on the 15-minute soaring raga of "Spectral Mornings". Best of all, the whole album's imbued with a spirit that's both celebratory and contrary, one that challenges and stimulates even while it's making you dance on the table. --John Mulvey
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Customer Reviews
'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'.
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.
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.
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