| Handcream for a Generation | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1 April 2002 | |||
| Recorded | 2000–2001 | |||
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| Genre | Punjabi rock, electro-funk | |||
| Length | 60:52 | |||
| Label | Wiiija | |||
| Producer | Tjinder Singh, Rob Swift | |||
| Cornershop chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Handcream for a Generation | ||||
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Handcream for a Generation is the fourth studio album to be recorded by the British rock band Cornershop. It was released on 1 April 2002 by Wiiija. Following the release of their third studio album When I Was Born for the 7th Time (1997), the band abstained from touring for the majority of 1998. During their hiatus, frontman Tjinder Singh and guitarist Ben Ayres worked as disc jockeys (DJs), formed the side project Clinton and released an album under that moniker while Singh was suffering from fatigue. Between mid-2000 and June 2001, Cornershop recorded their next album at West Orange Studios in Preston, Lancashire, and Eastcote Studios in Ladbroke Grove, London. Singh produced the album and Rob Swift co-produced two of the songs.
Handcream for a Generation recounts the Punjabi rock of When I Was Born for the 7th Time and the electro-funk of Clinton's sole album. One critic considered it a concept album about Singh's dismissal with the way modern music is consumed. Throughout it, the guitar tone recalls the sound of Oasis member Noel Gallagher; the music overall includes Punjabi instrumentation such as sitar and tabla. The individual songs on the album vary in genre from the soul-funk of opener and closer "Heavy Soup" and the Daft Punk-aping disco house of "Music Plus 1" to the psychedelic number "Spectral Mornings" and the dance sound of "Slip the Drummer One".
Music critics, many of whom commented on the array of musical styles, gave Handcream for a Generation generally favourable reviews. The album reached number 30 on the UK Albums Chart, while "Lessons Learned from Rocky I to Rocky III" peaked at number 37 and "Staging" peaked at number 80 on the UK Singles Chart. In March 2002, "Lessons Learned from Rocky I to Rocky III" was released as the album's lead single, after which Cornershop toured the United Kingdom and the United States until May that year. After Cornershop appeared at the festivals Fleadh Nua and Summer Sundae, and supported Oasis at a one-off show, "Staging the Plaguing of the Raised Platform" was released as the album's second single under the title "Staging" in August 2002. To promote the single, Cornershop performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals but by October 2002, their record label had released the band from their contract.