Corners
Maxed Out on Distractions
Lolipop Records/Burger Records
There are certain cultural aspects that seem wedded to particular spots on earth: the Tsarist system around Moscow, Confucian obedience to uniformity in the Far East, independent heroism in the American West, and deep reverb heavy guitars in Southern California. Corners reaches back to the earliest Beach Boys days for an ominous and dark pop sound; while bits of Seattle grunge flavor the mixture from the first chord on “Against It” is a high-tide surf guitar manifesto. “Buoy” adds punk-grade vocals, they are intelligent but really are more of an extra instrument as they sing “Free your mind and lose control.” They sing about losing it, but control is one thing this band maintains at ALL times.
Later we add some synthesizers in “Love Letters,” these are more like the direct mail version of long distance romance and love that’s beyond lost. A single guitar string picks out an occasional lonely note, its Dick Dale under-sampled to the max. Overall, this is a capable and well-founded trio out of the Echo Park scene; they’ve found a sweet spot between the 60’s and 80’s and post-modern twenty-teens. This group is recommended for both old age rockers and trendy hipsters; they sound fresh without the cloying sweetness of today’s industrial grade Indy rockers.
