Friday, July 12, 2013

CD REVIEW: Still Corners “Strange Pleasures”


            Not all that long ago, I went to the Sub Pop website for some reason to see what bands they had on their roster.  I’ve picked up several CDs from the library recently that are on Sub Pop and recent, yet I seem to just be annoyed by them.   A new album by The Thermals came out this year, but it wasn’t on Sub Pop, so I’m wondering what does this once great label have left to offer?

            Do you know who I saw in their active roster line up?  This may or may not surprise you, whether or not you’re friends with me on Facebook or a frequent visitor of the Sub Pop website yourself.  Sub Pop claims that one of the active bands on their roster is… Nirvana.

            When I read that, the first thing I did was email Dave Grohl, leave him a voice mail and say, “Forgive me for what I am about to do, but it needs to be done”.   I went to the cemetery, dug up Kurt Cobain, used science to bring him back to life, told him he was still an active band on Sub Pop, handed him a shotgun and he blew his fucking brains out again.

            Needless to say, Sub Pop and I have some issues that probably cannot be resolved.   Yet, I somehow managed to read about this album being a new release from 2013 without realizing it was on Sub Pop.   In some ways, that’s actually a good thing because if I saw this as just another shitty new Sub Pop band I wouldn’t have listened to it from the start.

            I’m actually quite glad I listened to this though.  All negativity relating to a label still trying to cash in on someone who killed himself almost twenty years ago aside, this band really is quite good.   They are a duo from England who have been on Sub Pop since 2011, the poor souls. 

            Musically, this falls somewhere between Sarah McLaughlin, Polly Scattergood and The Cardigans.   What I like most about them though is that they have a tendency to repeat the lyrics in the chorus a lot.   It’s not overdone in a way that would be pop or annoying, but rather in a way that will simply implant it into your brain almost like subliminal messaging.  (Yes… almost) 

            This truly has become one of my favorite albums of 2013, I’m glad I got to hear it and Still Corners is thusly one of my new favorite bands as well.   If you need further proof, just listen to “All I Know”, which is just an incredible song. 

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