Concerns Of Wisp And Willow is the latest album by Redwood City California based sophisticated folk pop band The Corner Laughers who are Karla Kane, Khoi Hunh, KC Bowman and Charlie Crabtree. With assistance from Angela Rhoades, Helen Luker, Jeri Sykes, Bradley Skaught and Octavia Kane. The album was recorded and mixed by KC Bowman and Timber Trout in Oakland.
The album opens with the jangling ukelele of Terra Mia with Karla Kane's sweet vocals telling us about how the land flooded, when the electric bass adds a darker edge, we find ourselves burrowing deep into the soggy earth.
The recent single Dusking is about nighttime adventures in San Francisco and having to run to catch the BART home at the end of the night, this is sweet indie pop evocation, rather than the full-on sleazy nights on the Castro or Mission, this has an innocence to the adventures they might be having.
Rainbow Cardigan sounds like it comes from the Laurel Canyon scene at the start of the 70's, it has a spry edge to the descriptions of where you go and what you get up too while wearing that Rainbow Cardigan, the guitar that weave through the ukulele is particularly effective in summoning up the mood for growing old, but still feeling young at heart.
Crumb Clean is a phrase that easily conjures up several things, from making sure your table is clean of crumbs, to be as clean as Robert Crumb's mind, this has a great sing along quality, feeling very upbeat, even while the lyrics ask a good array of questions, while claiming they are getting the words wrong, in the same way I might get the meaning wrong.
The Harvestman are worried that the writing is on the wall, the crops might fail again this year, and what will they do then, especially in times of fertilizer shortages, they hope the Harvestman doesn't come calling for them in the darkness. This is a thought provoking look at how precarious life of all sorts really is.
Early single Dark Matter has a super light folk pop backing, for dark lyrics about how everything is connected by the ravens and the seasons, they don't want to be in the rat race, they would rather have a more bucolic existence, more at one with the Magpies and Rooks, while the keyboards are driven to become ever more catchy.
Red Yarrow Yellow Yarrow feels like a tongue twister, just typing it is confusing enough, let alone singing it, which is why this is a slow song of reflection, for the hardy qualities of Yarrow that seems capable of surviving in some inhospitable places, the backing feels like a barroom folk blues for laid back days, when it would be used to stop bleeding wounds.
Universe Point has them caught out in the rain hoping for salvation, but they aren't sure it will be possible, this covers some ground, drawing the listener into the conversation they have with the ancient priestess.
Victoria Sponge takes us down into deepest South London following the path of the long buried Effra river along Effra Road and down to the Crystal Palace to eat the Victoria Sponge that was first served in the Crystal Palace before it burned down, this is a wonderful mix of history lesson and cooking instructions while sounding a lot nicer than a drive down Effra Road normally is, although it would sound great being played at The Hootenanny on Effra Road.
The album closes with Larkspur Landing a gentle evocation of what the twitchers saw on one early morning adventure, all the different species in the healthy woods they stroll through, they notice the changing seasons and bird life, harmonies helping the creatures to sleep soundly under the leaves.
Find out more at https://bigstirrecords.com/product/1174314-concerns-of-wasp-and-willow-cd-the-corner-laughers-concerns-of-wasp-and-willow https://cornerlaughers.bandcamp.com/album/concerns-of-wasp-and-willow https://www.facebook.com/CornerLaughers
