Record Label: Big Stir Records
“Crooning to the authenticity of a post-college rock sound, that seemed to linger from the mid ’90s, with a tinge of chamber pop.” – Girl Underground Music
SAN FRANCISCO (April 17, 2020) – A song for our times, The Corner Laughers’ “The Accepted Time” places the listener directly in the present moment, where magic exists if only you slow down to find it. With the recent shelter-in-place order and anxieties high, the song is now also a wistful memory of how good everyday life was just weeks ago, as well as a reminder to pause and enjoy our present moment, as it’s all we have. “The Accepted Time” will be released on April 17 and all proceeds will be donated to the Redwood City Education Foundation. It’s off the album Temescal Telegraph due out June 5.
There’s a saying in parenting, “The days are long but the years are short.” “The Accepted Time” is inspired by the walk home from school bandleader Karla Kane makes with her 6-year-old daughter (or did, until everything changed). One autumn day, they passed by a sign quoting civil rights leader W.E.B DuBois (referencing the King James Bible): “Now is the accepted time. Not tomorrow, not some more convenient season.”
Out of this passing inspiration grew a song of appreciation for both righteous action and the quiet mindfulness to be “in the moment.” It bears a deeply personal yet universal message that also weaves and winds into a musical scavenger hunt of Redwood City landmarks discovered on their walk. The present-tense construction of the lyrics puts the listener right there along with them, senses heightened.
The song revolves around a dichotomy of ideas grounded in the emotions of the moment. It feels eternal, yet passes too quickly. There is innocence, yet wisdom. Anxiety and longing, yet optimism. “And the walk home,” Kane sings, “can be a world its own.”
The band is releasing a video alongside the single, filmed in the beautiful environment in which it was written and inspired by. It stars Kane’s daughter and drummer Charlie Crabtree’s son, representing the innocence and freedom of childhood.
The Redwood City Education Foundation supports the children and families of the Redwood City School District and has established a COVID-19 Family Relief Fund to provide direct financial support to local families experiencing severe economic hardship due to COVID-19.
The album, Temescal Telegraph, plays with micro and macro lenses, connecting detailed personal experiences with the cosmic scale. Expect to encounter bees in harmony, ghosts, fallen leaves and omniscient vultures. Current issues meet ancient echoes. Moods meander between wistful melancholy and exhilaration. To quote one of its songs, “It’s alright to care.”
Temescal Telegraph Track Listing
- The Calculating Boy
- Changeling
- The Accepted Time
- The Lilac Line
- Loma Alta
- Sisters of the Pollen
- Wren in the Rain
- Goodguy Sun
- Skylarks of Britain
- Lord Richard
About The Corner Laughers
Karla Kane’s literate lyrics and “ridiculously catchy” melodies (Word Magazine) are backed up by the powerhouse combination of KC Bowman (guitars, bass, keyboards), Khoi Huynh (bass, piano, guitars) and Charlie Crabtree (drums). An intriguing mixture of bookish and badass, together they create “rousing, visionary adult pop” (Tom Robinson’s Fresh on the Net). The Corner Laughers music has been featured in Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret and American Eagle, been played on the BBC and CBC, and featured in The Guardian and Bitch Magazine. Matilda Effect received best album of the year (2015) in Goldmine Magazine. They’ve performed with Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne), Mike Viola (Candy Butchers), and Wesley Stace (John Wesley Harding).
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Praise for The Corner Laughers
“Kane’s conversational vocal tone and her storytelling chops are reminiscent of The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle. Musically, though, their bright harmonies make them sound a lot more like Belle & Sebastian with a little more jangle and a little more twang.” —Jess Kibler, Bitch Media
“A Californian band who come across like a West Coast Belle and Sebastian. Their indie pop is sassy and smart, intelligent and intricate, twee with bite.” — The Guardian
“Armed to the teeth with sharp observations and whimsical wanderings, with a genius for dreamy melodies” — Louder Than War
“Crooning to the authenticity of a post-college rock sound, that seemed to linger from the mid ’90s, with a tinge of chamber pop.” – Girl Underground Music
“joyful” – Strange Brew
“magnificently uplifting” – Pure M Zine
