Cornershop has never been quiet about the debt they owe to The Beatles, and their latest, “Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast,” continues in that grand tradition, with plenty of pop sitar, short and tight tunes, and 1960s riffs. Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres are one of the best songwriting teams around today, as evidenced by this great-from-beginning-to-end release. I even enjoyed the upbeat cover of Bob Dylan’s “The Mighty Quinn,” notwithstanding that it sounds a little like The Grateful Dead’s own cover of that song and really doesn’t break any new ground. But the real tour-de-force is the 16-minute “The Turned-On Truth,” which tranforms the “Brimful of Asha” riff into a gospel tune, occupying simultaneously rock and roll sounds perfected by Van Morrison, George Harrison, Curtis Mayfield, Joe Cocker, Merle Saunders, and, of course, Cornershop themselves. (They’ve been around for almost two decades, so why shouldn’t they now be considered influential?)
If you’re one of the fans who was eagerly awaiting this release, be happy. If you’ve never heard Cornershop before (or are only familiar with “Asha”), be very happy. This will be a record you’ll want to experience again and again.
Waterloo Sunset (Kinks cover) (Bonus live track)
