Customer Reviews

Judy Sucks A Lemon for Breakfast

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a huge Cornershop and I'm so grateful the new album has finally dropped. But truth be told, "Handcream For A Generation" was, to me, the masterpiece; "Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast" is more like the sequel. At least I was able to have a friend mule it over to me from England and actually save money on what they're charging for it here. Also, the packaging leaves little to be desired (not even a jewel box or DigiPak). Hope they can finance a tour of the U.S. really soon so I can hear these jams in a live setting.

Cornershop
"Judy Sucks A Lemon for Breakfast"
(Rough Trade/Ample Play, 2010)
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One could say, with reasonable fairness, that Cornershop are still recycling their old sound and offer little that they haven't already shown us. But that's not a bad thing, since they have always been such as great band; the same could be said of other indiepop bands such as Teenage Fan Club, et. al. Sometimes it's fine to stick with a good thing: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Sure, a lot of "Lemon For Breakfast" sounds a lot like other records, including their breakthrough album, "When I Was Born For The 7th Time," but that doesn't mean this new record is deficient in any way... Indeed, one of the most fun tracks is the super-long, funky jam track, "The Turned On Truth (The Truth Is Turned On)", which takes the laid-back riff from "Brimful Of Asha" and playfully twists it into all sorts of languid, trippy curlicues -- I'm sure this track reflects many long live performances, and shows how fun it would be to spend a night with Tjinder Singh and his pals. The rest of the record also reflects their playful, puckish approach, with hook-laden songs such as "Who Fingered Rock'n'Roll?" and "Free Love" that'll perk your ears up. Cornershop may not necessarily be innovating much, but they sure sound groovy. (DJ Joe Sixpack, Slipcue Music Guide)

This album is great. It opens asking "Who Fingered Rock and Roll?", (a great question), and ends with a tad long gospel tune. Overall, I think Cornershop is returning to the care-free days of "Brim full of Ashra" with pop notes and leaving the techno boredom they had been shopping with over the last few years. If you still like sitar in your pop music then buy it!

Shortly before this record was released, I read an interview somewhere with Tjinder Singh in which he described "Judy Sucks a Lemon" with words to the effect this would go down as the greatest record in rock n roll history.

One might say Mr. Singh is prone to a little hyperbole, or maybe he doesn't take himself too seriously? While it's not the greatest record in rock n roll history, it's classic Cornershop, with plenty of songs that will stick in your brain.

The record begins with "Who fingered rock n roll?" Every once in a while, you see people wearing T-shirts with the words "MORE COWBELL!". Well, Cornershop took the message to heart, and threw plenty of cowbell, that symbol of 70s rock n roll kitsch into the mix from the beginning. It's a little hard to tell whether they're serious, but it sounds good, which is what counts.

From there, the record has several other catchy Stones driven songs (that is, if the Stones had used sitar in more of their songs). As with previous Cornershop records, not every track on "Judy sucks a lemon" holds up, but at least half of the songs are great. The final track on the album, "Turn on the Truth/The truth is turned on", which clocks in at more than 16 minutes, is worth the price of the CD all by itself.

No word on when, and on what label the CD will be released in the US. It's kind of a shame that they've left Luakabop, as the label and the band seemed to be a good fit, but these things happen.

Cornershop has knocked it out of the park again. My favorite song (sixteen plus minutes in length) is "The Turned On Truth". The whole cd is genius and was more than worth the wait.

Another under-the-radar smash from Cornershop - check out the individual tracks and videos at [...]. And while you're at Amazon, buy any or all of their equally wonderful previous three albums: Woman's Gotta Have It, When I Was Born for the Seventh Time, and Handcream for a Generation. With that plug for Amazon out of the way, US buyers can order the new one cheapest from the band's website.

While other albums have come and gone, Cornershop is back with their fifth album Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast, a break from the techno scene of past albums which may have kept them off the radar.

This album seems to be a return to the care-free sounds of psychedelic, gospel pop that fans ingested over a decade ago.

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