{"id":12368,"date":"2020-03-06T10:36:50","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T15:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/records\/england-is-a-garden\/"},"modified":"2020-03-06T11:32:02","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T16:32:02","slug":"england-is-a-garden","status":"publish","type":"records","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/records\/england-is-a-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"England is a Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cornershop\u2019s Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres might not be constant gardeners \u2013 it\u2019s a decade or so since the band\u2019s last original album \u2013 but they are consistent. The flora in their flowerbed is familiar, a bright and bountiful mix of the native (glam rock and Mersey beat, gentle psychedelia and pastoral folk-pop for the Sunday driver) and the naturalized (Punjabi folk and other Desi elements, elegantly insinuated). Every garden has its weeds, pests and problematic overgrowth, however. The English one, like elsewhere, is in lousy shape, blighted with the reactionary nationalism the Brexit era has only exacerbated. Cornershop have been challenging that shit for decades now \u2013 Singh\u2019s torching of Morrissey pix in \u201992 has proven not petty but prescient. Their retorts remain sharp here, as on \u201cEverywhere That Wog Army Roam\u201d, a reflection on the infraction of being brown in public. Singh\u2019s deceptively drowsy, amiable delivery only adds more bite to his bitter wit and wordplay. There are of course moments of unmitigated cheer here, because while some may be down on the decent folk next door, you can\u2019t keep good men down for long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n