Kid Cornered is the work of Matthew J Toohey. Having played in a number of different bands – El Mopa, The Woods Themselves, Browning, Via Tania – he has released six albums under the Kid Cornered/Ice Chest Orchestra moniker. Mining the territory of the sad melody and off-kilter guitar, Toohey’s songs are dreamy excursions into lost souls and lost love.

*****

Kid Cornered’s fifth album, loopholes (originally titled, ‘I Shall Be Unreleased’) was initially going to be given out, in the way that cassette mix-tapes used to be passed on. But the Kid (The Woods Themselves, El Mopa, Via Tania) handed it to Tim Whitten, the maestro, who whittled it, pounded it like a hotel pillow and kicked out the hospital corners. Its intricately crafted loops are held together by warm, soulful melodies in a reverb glow – an indie rock treasure.