$12.00
The much-anticipated new album, out June 5 and featuring:
- The Calculating Boy
- Changeling
- The Accepted Time
- The Lilac Line
- Loma Alta
- Sisters of the Pollen
- Wren in the Rain
- Goodguy Sun
- Skylarks of Britain
- Lord Richard
THE CORNER LAUGHERS (Redwood City, CA)
It's the beginning of the third decade of the 21st Century, and California indie-pop band THE CORNER LAUGHERS have been with us for a while now – since their 2006 debut, throughout three more albums and in other manifestations such as Karla Kane and KC Bowman’s recent solo records, the enigmatic Agony Aunts, and a number of other collaborations with kindred spirits.
After 2015’s critically acclaimed Matilda Effect, the future of The Corner Laughers was unclear. Circumstances of geography, health and other life complications conspired to push the tight-knit quartet temporarily apart. Temescal Telegraph, the new album out soon via Big Stir Records, stands as a joyful testament to the band being back in full bloom.
While past projects have drawn from a variety of guest contributions from around the globe, for their 2020 return, Kane (vocals, ukulele and most songwriting), Charlie Crabtree (drums) Bowman and Khoi Huynh (sharing guitar, bass and piano duties) recorded their new LP quickly and entirely in the intimate setting of Bowman’s Timber Trout studio in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, fostering an organic, cohesive and present sound.
But now, as at the start, they are not of this era. They are timeless, but far from “retro”: Yes, you will detect strains of English folk-psych (peak period Kinks by way of Fairport Convention, perhaps), vintage California sunshine pop and hints of alt-country twang. You may be reminded of the literate lyrics and soaring melodies of '80s titans like XTC, Kirsty MacColl and Robyn Hitchcock, or the '90s indie chamber pop of the likes of Belle & Sebastian. Kane's lilt and uke might even lead one to expect a postmodern YouTube sensation (make no mistake, she was there first).
With the exception of that last one, none of those touchstones are, strictly speaking, off base. But they're not why a Corner Laughers record will leave you feeling temporally displaced in an eerily giddy manner. That's down to the songs, built upon what Icon Magazine calls a “nigh-on-perfect fusion of bubblegum-sweet tunefulness and clever, subtly barbed lyrics.”
Temescal Telegraph plays with micro and macro lenses, connecting deeply personal experiences to the cosmic scale. Consider "The Accepted Time", which explores how an everyday walk in one’s hometown can also be an entire universe, or “Lord Richard,” one of several songs that somehow contain the life-death cycle, ecological doom and a hope of redemption in a catchy package. Expect to encounter bees in harmony, witches, ghosts, fallen leaves and omniscient vultures. Moods meander between wistful melancholy and exhilaration. To quote another song, “It’s alright to care.”
These are works full of wit and whimsy which might easily be unfolding “anywhen”, or in several epochs at once. They're all strikingly immediate, but thoroughly unanchored to any conventional notion of “now.” And that's the thematic thread tying together Temescal Telegraph -- a notion of the present alongside, or perhaps even versus, the eternal.
It promises, like all of their records, to be a lovely era in which to lose oneself.
$10.00
The 2017 solo debut from Karla Kane of The Corner Laughers
- King's Daughters Home For Incurables
- Wishing Tree
- Skylarks Of Britain
- The Lilac Line
- Don't Hush, Darling
- Mother Of The Future
- Under The Oak In May
- Midsommar
- The Weight Of Acorns
- All Aboard
- Grasshopper Clock
$10.00
KC Bowman's 2018 release as Fireproof Sam And The Network Stars features the extended Corner Laughers/Agony Aunts family.
- C'mon, Get Passive
- Screwed over by Stylish Introverts
- Old Trope Academy
- Tryna Be Bolth
- Rev Nine
- Coat of Arms
- Vatical Trance
- Probably Twigs
- Hide Behind My Heart
- I Need You
- Touch of a Clone
- Obvious Scarecrow
- Idiot Rock
- Ripple up the Creek
- Poisonous Peach
- The Fountainhead
- God Stopped Listening
- Goodbye Minced Oaths
- Wonderful Birthday
- She Is Gonna Love You the Way She Loved Me
$10.00
The enigmatic Agony Aunts return with their second full-length album.
1.Twenty-four Mergansers 03:14
2. Family Drugs 03:00
3. Big Cinnamon 02:47
4. Back To Back Bill 03:40
5. Undecimber 03:38
6. We Got The Jekyll 04:11
7. Mother Make Sleep 03:19
8. Uranium My Love 03:19
9. You're So Vague 02:54
10. Laughing At The World 03:25
11. Cool Fresh Nights 04:13
12. Trouble Was Born 03:15
$10.00
The 2010 debut album for Agony Aunts displays a different side of The Corner Laughers!
- Greater Miranda
- Me Being Maximum
- Sorting Out The Rules
- Night Circling Sharks
- Reap The Plains Sown
- Linus's Fists Of Death
- Leland Manor
- Adam's Rib
- RB & YM
- Not Penny's Boat
- San Rafael In Love
- Evergreen Park
BIG STIR RECORDS is thrilled to announce the forthcoming release of a brand new album from THE CORNER LAUGHERS. The longtime and beloved California indie-pop band returns to beguile listeners once again with Temescal Telegraph, a ten song collection exploring themes from acceptance and loss to climate change, childhood, and the nature of time
BIG STIR RECORDS is thrilled to announce the forthcoming release of a brand new album from THE CORNER LAUGHERS. The longtime and beloved California indie-pop band returns to beguile listeners once again with Temescal Telegraph, a ten song collection exploring themes from acceptance and loss to climate change, childhood, and the nature of time itself. The album, their fifth overall and first for BSR, is out June 5 on CD and download.
The Corner Laughers' past projects, from their inception through 2015’s critically acclaimed Matilda Effect and leader Karla Kane’s 2017 solo debut have drawn from a variety of guest contributions from around the globe. For their 2020 return, Kane (vocals, ukulele and most songwriting), Charlie Crabtree (drums), KC Bowman and Khoi Huynh (sharing guitar, bass and piano duties) recorded their new LP quickly and entirely in the intimate setting of Bowman’s Timber Trout studio. Set in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, the result is grounded in an organic, cohesive and present sound emblematic of the fresh start and immediacy of the process.
It couldn't have been anticipated that so soon after the record's completion, a global pandemic would deny us all that simple magic of playing music together in a room. The songs, however, hum with warmly eerie prescience. “Yes I know that life means letting go, but I will hold on just a little longer” sings Kane on the lead single and video “The Accepted Time” as the groove brims with uplifting melancholy. Echoes of other times and places – often the distant past, frequently England – ornament the likes of the ebullient “Lilac Line” and “Skylarks of Britain” – but they're crafted with a wry complexity in their DNA that profoundly resonates with these times. And the affectionately unflinching depictions of the natural cycle of seasons, life, death and rebirth that inform “Wren In The Rain”, the Martin Newell-penned “Goodguy Sun”, and even the cover art could not be more relevant today.
Temescal Telegraph plays with micro and macro lenses, connecting detailed personal experiences with the cosmic scale. Expect to encounter bees in harmony, ghosts, fallen leaves and omniscient vultures. Moods meander between wistful yearning and exhilaration. A simple walk home becomes an entire universe encapsulated in a moment. To quote one of its songs, “It’s alright to care.”
-
The Calculating Boy 2:520:00/2:52
-
Changeling 2:350:00/2:35
-
The Accepted Time 3:170:00/3:17
-
The Lilac Line 2:420:00/2:42
-
Loma Alta 3:590:00/3:59
-
0:00/2:43
-
Wren In The Rain 3:320:00/3:32
-
Goodguy Sun 4:100:00/4:10
-
Skylarks Of Britain 4:080:00/4:08
-
Lord Richard 3:550:00/3:55
The Accepted Time (Big Stir Digital Single No. 69)
The Corner Laughers
THE CORNER LAUGHERS officially join the Big Stir Records family with the April 17 release of “The Accepted Time”, the lead single from their highly anticipated forthcoming album TEMESCAL TELEGRAPH. The single features the band's classic “Queen Of The Meadow” as its B-side and is available for pre-order at
THE CORNER LAUGHERS officially join the Big Stir Records family with the April 17 release of “The Accepted Time”, the lead single from their highly anticipated forthcoming album TEMESCAL TELEGRAPH. The single features the band's classic “Queen Of The Meadow” as its B-side and is available for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles now! Temescal Telegraph, the band's fifth full-length album (and their first for Big Stir), is slated for an early May release with further details to be announced soon. The Northern California-based band – Karla Kane (vocals, ukulele and most songwriting), Charlie Crabtree (drums), KC Bowman (guitar) and Khoi Huynh (sharing guitar, bass and piano duties) – have crafted another instantly indelible and moving tune in “The Accepted Time”. Anchored by Kane's emotive, lilting vocal and a gently insistent groove and featuring a spryly twanging guitar solo, it's both completely fresh and utterly emblematic of The Corner Laughers' sound. Recorded and mixed, like all of the new album by Bowman at his own Timber Trout Studio in Oakland, CA, the A-side is accompanied by brand new video that embodies the uplifting but melancholic spirit of the song. “It was written on the long, regular walks home I make with Octavia, my daughter (who also stars in the video) from her elementary school,” says Kane. “A lot of it is very literally true, including that it all stemmed from a sign at a Unitarian Universalist church we pass, featuring the quote: 'Now is the accepted time. Not tomorrow, not some more convenient season.' To me, this means both now is the time for action and, in regards to our walk, to try and appreciate the present moment more. I think the magic' of this song is its perspective -- It puts the listener into a very specific, present-tense narrative that focuses on being in the moment that feels eternal, yet passes too quickly. There is innocence yet wisdom, optimism but also anxiety. It serves to represent the whole album in that way.” The B-side, “Queen Of The Meadow”, comes from the band's previous album Matilda Effect and has been a frequent set-closer over the years, cited as perhaps the quintessential Corner Laughers tune inasmuch as there can be such a thing. Sly, ebullient, effortlessly catchy and more than a little mysterious, it's here as a reminder of a back catalog that endlessly rewards the deepest of dives.
Matilda Effect
The Corner Laughers
CD Download |
Not available |
Vinyl Download |
|
Their 2015 album for Mystery Lawn Records, available here as a CD, LP or download! Track list: 1. Fairytale Tourist 2. The Girl, America 3. Octavia A 4. Queen of the Meadow 5. Sophie in the Streets of Stockholm 6. Midsommar 7. Lammas Land 8. Go Fly Your Kite 9. Martha (Cincinnati, 1914) 10. Good Hope
-
Fairytale Tourist 3:160:00/3:16
-
The Girl, America 2:540:00/2:54
-
Octavia A 2:570:00/2:57
-
Queen Of The Meadow 3:130:00/3:13
-
0:00/4:03
-
Midsommar 3:470:00/3:47
-
Lammas Land 3:300:00/3:30
-
Go Fly Your Kite 2:550:00/2:55
-
0:00/1:38
-
Good Hope 4:570:00/4:57
Poppy Seeds
The Corner Laughers
CD Download |
Not available |
The Corner Laugher's 2012 album on CD is strewn with the seeds of what would blossom into a garden of perennial favorites. Track list: 1. Grasshopper Clock
2. Bells Of El Camino 3. Sugar Skull 4. Laughing Stars
5. Twice The Luck
6. Transamerica Pyramid 7. (Now That I Have You I'm) Bored
8. 8:18 9. Chicken Bingo
10. I'd Rather Count Cormorants
The Corner Laugher's 2012 album on CD is strewn with the seeds of what would blossom into a garden of perennial favorites. Track list:
1. Grasshopper Clock
2. Bells Of El Camino
3. Sugar Skull
4. Laughing Stars
5. Twice The Luck
6. Transamerica Pyramid
7. (Now That I Have You I'm) Bored
8. 8:18
9. Chicken Bingo
10. I'd Rather Count Cormorants With You
11. Poppy Seeds
12. The Perfect Weather
-
Grasshopper Clock 3:080:00/3:08
-
Bells Of El Camino 2:300:00/2:30
-
Sugar Skull 2:280:00/2:28
-
Laughing Stars 3:250:00/3:25
-
Twice The Luck 2:160:00/2:16
-
Transamerica Pyramid 3:210:00/3:21
-
0:00/2:26
-
8:18 3:160:00/3:16
-
Chicken Bingo 3:320:00/3:32
-
0:00/3:04
-
Poppy Seeds 1:180:00/1:18
-
The Perfect Weather 4:040:00/4:04
-
0:00/0:30
Goodguy Sun (Big Stir Digital Single No. 1)
Karla Kane
Next Friday October 26: The BIG STIR DIGITAL SINGLE SERIES commences with a brand new and extraordinary release from KARLA KANE (of The Corner Laughers, Agony Aunts, and solo renown): "Goodguy Sun" b/w "Sisters of the Pollen"! The single (and all future BSR Digital Singles) can be found for pre-sale here:
Next Friday October 26: The BIG STIR DIGITAL SINGLE SERIES commences with a brand new and extraordinary release from KARLA KANE (of The Corner Laughers, Agony Aunts, and solo renown): "Goodguy Sun" b/w "Sisters of the Pollen"! The single (and all future BSR Digital Singles) can be found for pre-sale here:
https://www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles
Side A is “Goodguy Sun”, a brand new composition by Martin Newell (Cleaners from Venus, The Greatest Living Englishman) recorded for the first time by Karla. How did this come about? Karla explains:
"As I was about to contact Mr. Newell about doing an interview for Big Stir Magazine, as if summoned by magic, he emailed me and said he had written a song he thought might suit me. Well, when you get a message like that from one of your songwriting idols you take notice, let me tell you. I, along with musical comrades Khoi, KC, Bradley and Gina, promptly recorded our version of “Goodguy Sun,” a wistful, autumnal slice of pop heaven. Enjoy (in a suitably melancholy way, of course…)"
Side B contains "Sisters of the Pollen", a Kane original recorded with fellow Corner Laugher (and Kane's husband) Khoi Huynh as well as an assortment of genuine field recording of bees going about their business.
GOODGUY SUN: Karla Kane (vocals and uke); Khoi Huynh (acoustic guitar and piano); KC Bowman (bass, melodica, percussion); Bradley Skaught (drums, elecotro guitar, percussion); Gina Sperinde (vocal harmony). Written by Martin Newell.
SISTERS OF THE POLLEN: Karla Kane (vocals and uke); Khoi Huynh (bass). Bees recorded by Richard Youell. Written by Karla Kane.
www.karlakane.com www.facebook.com/KarlaKaneOfficial www.cornerlaughers.com
https://www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles www.facebook.com/bigstirrecords