Thoughts On: Standing on The Corner
A question I may get asked from anyone I share enough music with is, “how do you find new music?” Simply put, I believe that good music leads to other good music and I apply this branching philosophy to any new artist I find. Any features on the album I think are interesting or related artists that pop up in similar playlists or discussions are written down in a mental queue. The focus of today is one of the very albums found in my never-ending search for quality music: Standing on the Corner. The album, with which its Brooklyn-native band shares its name, is a wild Experimental Jazz experience from 2017 that blew me away when I found it last year. The group has songwriting and production credits on Solange’s 2019 album, When I Get Home, with their own work diving deeper into abstraction and funky sounds.
The album starts off with ‘Bns’, as the drone of amps buzzing mixed with the sultry guitar chords sets an impressive stage. A dreamy pair of vocals sing of longing as more of the band slowly joins in. The keys have a sharp ping and the percussion is stiff and creepy, giving the whole song an air of unease. As the music settles in, you feel it has a natural rock to it, however — its unusual cache of sounds lulling its listeners into a sway back and forth. This feeling, the sway, carries through the entirety of the project and gives SotC a unique weight. Their style is ghostly, holding enough musical convention to emulate Jazz and wavy Indie Rock without gripping them too tightly. As the album coasts into ‘In+Out’ the band shows its ability to play with tempo, with all sense of time being obliterated by the drawn-out strumming and pitch-shifted vocals. It works in tandem with the tone of the first song, a slow but melodic piece about loneliness, but loses itself in the weeds more, introducing the more abstracted elements of the album with gusto. This quality, the tonal shapeshifting, is one of the biggest reasons I keep coming back to the album.
SotC as band excels in their ability to never fully commit to a style or genre. While many of the songs’ musical qualities may carry the essence of R&B, Hip-Hop, Jazz, and even Surf Rock, the album is more than an amalgamation of those genres’ traits. It’s clear that the musicians in this band have a reverence for a wide range of music, and instead of choosing any anchoring point for their songs, they simply play what’s appropriate when it’s appropriate. Despite the pretentious stigma that may be associated with genres that have “Experimental” or “Post-” in front of them, I have always believed that if a song is appealing to you it doesn’t matter what genre it is. Genre is only important once you want to discuss music with other people, who themselves have their own sense of what genre is. Why this matters in relation to Standing on the Corner is that the album and the band aren’t concerned about what box they fit into. It is simply trying to tell you its own story. This isn’t to say listeners won’t be drawn in by the album’s emulation of genres, just that what lies beneath is much more satisfying.
As we hit ‘Girl’, SotC concocts one of my new personal favorite love songs, a bouncy keyboard groove supported by a hissy snare and a simple hook. “And there will never be another girl like you” spills out from the frontman in the sincerest tone possible, their words ringing true for anyone who knows the feeling. Here you get some insight into how the band chooses to convey emotion in their music. They start with an idea, maybe loneliness or a tribute to someone, and then find the most direct way to sonically evoke that feeling in themselves — and, by extension, the audience. This gives you passionate synth melodies with little warning that still match the vibe of a song, because every component feeds back into its song’s purpose. There is a minimalist quality to their songs that gives them an air of efficiency; you hear exactly what you need to hear as it is meant to be heard. Standing on the Corner is album that doesn’t say no very often, as it depends on those off-kilter moments to get its point across, building an entire sound off its ideas.
SotC if one of my new personal favorite finds when it comes to music and continues to push the boundaries of what we may think sounds good. Woven into their murky vocals and chopped samples are bits of musical genius, which is why I urge you to give the album a shot. I had the notion to dissect the whole album song by song, but in truth I think it is worth experiencing cold. With genre becoming more blurred over time, bands like SotC have been able to make a name for themselves without compromising any of their stylistic integrity: a trend I hope we see more of. The wealth of music talent in the world far exceeds the number of named genres any given person is aware of, and I believe this has been the case for a long time. Bands can find an audience doing pretty much anything if they hone their craft enough, and this keeps music (as an art form) alive. If you are willing to immerse yourself in the feverish creations of a talented upcoming band, I urge you to check out Standing on the Corner. I promise it will not disappoint.
