Still Corners – Strange Pleasures

Still Corners – Strange Pleasures (Sub Pop)

On their 2011 debut, this movie-loving London band recast ’60s and shoegaze signifiers to produce a cinematic album seemingly soundtracked by Broadcast and the Cocteau Twins. On their follow-up, ’80s synth pop gets a starring role. I’m no Howard Hughes, but when I think of strange pleasures, there’s always an element of sublimated ugliness or of the unexpected. Waxing your legs. Pulling a huge clump of hair out of a now-unclogged drain. Listening to each bottle break as it slides down the chute into the recycling bin. When I think of Strange Pleasures, there’s no ugliness to sublimate and little that’s unexpected either. Still Corners’ music is always pretty, and this album is a logical progression from and an improvement over their debut, but getting stranger would make their music even more pleasurable.