Agony Aunts

What happens when indie-pop magicians KC Bowman, Karla Kane, Khoi Huynh, and Charlie Crabtree of The Corner Laughers form a mysterious psychedelic side project? They incorporate the impeccable songwriting, layered harmonies and inventive arrangements Corner Laughers fans know and love and add alter egos, flights of fancy, distinctly weird touches and a galaxy of friends-as-guest-stars including Gil Ray (Game Theory, The Loud Family), Anton Barbeau (Three Minute Tease) and Allen Clapp (The Orange Peels). In the grand tradition of XTC’s Dukes of Stratosphear, the result is Agony Aunts and they’ve come to blow your mind. Critics called their 2010 debut “Greater Miranda” “brilliantly, wonderfully twisted stuff ... pure pop perfection” (Musoscribe). With their new record, “Big Cinnamon,” the enigmatic supergroup continues the tradition of kaleidoscopic, mind-bending melodies and genre-defying sounds first encountered in “Greater Miranda” but take a step further toward the goal of making the world a trippier place with their singular blend of bubblegum-meets-rock opera. There’s something for every listener: 60s sunshine chamber pop (“Twenty-four Mergansers”); Satanic show tunes (“Big Cinnamon”); smooth yacht rock (“You’re So Vague”); post-ironic anthems (“Cool Fresh Nights”); evangelistic psych-country (“Trouble Was Born”) and all places in between. Agony Aunts are part of Northern California’s Mystery Lawn Music, the eclectic-yet-ever-infectious record label/collective that has in recent years released The Orange Peels’ “Sun Moon,” The Corner Laughers’ “Poppy Seeds,” and Alison Faith Levy’s “World of Wonder,” among others. With no desire to shy away from bombast, Agony Aunts’ “Big Cinnamon” swirls around cosmic themes, revisionist history, universal questions and epic adventures. Push play and enjoy the journey. AGONY AUNTS: a Bay Area psych-pop supergroup (featuring members of The Corner Laughers, Preoccupied Pipers, The Orange Peels, Bigwheel, William Cleere & The MFs, The Bye Bye Blackbirds, The Loud Family, and Anton Barbeau).