the arkive

Cornershop

Cornershop are as The Times and most major papers have put it, ‘the most treasured of British institutions,’ yet they are amazingly one of the most neglected institutions England has ever known too. Not for them to be merely a pigeon hole in the staff room, they always cut it their own way, constantly changing with every release, burning Morrissey pictures outside EMI to deliver a message that all youth must do, a message that is as important then as it is getting again today, kicking aside their fellow asian crop of bands with a simple kick forward, and such forward thought gave rise to some of the best collaborations and relations ever made.

Whether that was with John Peel or Jon Savage, The Light Surgeons or sleeve art by Nick Edwards, Allen Ginsberg or Otis Clay, Larry Coryell or Noel Gallagher, in Preston Lancashire or London, or Paris or NYC, constructing their videos with the likes of Prashant Bhargava or Douglas Avery, studio production by the likes of The Automator or their own Tjinder Singh, working with charities from Mind to Christian Aid, making diversion to record their epic classic Clinton LP, when everyone warned against it, to then come back with the equally classic Handcream for A Generation, to further flip the record with recordings featuring Bubbley Kaur. The fact that they have stuck to their guns has led to the reduction in how popular they are yet to come, for there is still no one doing anything like them.

The name ‘Tjinder Singh’ sounds like ‘bells do ring’, and his voice is ‘unspun silk’ – not bad descriptions for a man whose name translates to Fire. The heat is on your ears, and their forthcoming album Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast shows no let up in the programme.

-David Ingram, Writer and Presenter 105.6 Radio Scotland

  • Cornershop