Courtney Barnett’s debut full length album combines the slacker pop-rock and conversational lyrics which have gained her international acclaim, into a diverse and colourful album. The singer/songwriter, from Melbourne, offers an Australian twang and deadpan wit to her songs that adds to the catchy radio friendly indie rock that features on the album. As well as this, throughout there are a number which are thoughtful and poignant, with deeper meanings apparently close to Barnett’s heart. These often slower and moodier tracks, like ‘Depreston’ and ‘Small Poppies’, offer a change of pace which may be unwelcome particularly if you were enjoying the energetic nature of the other songs, but which are still highly memorable.
Upbeat opener, ‘Elevator Operator’, comes across as incredibly cheerful and optimistic, hiding the sensitive themes of Barnett’s lyrics. In the vein of The Wombats ‘Let’s Dance…’ this narrative driven song contains one of many poignant notions scattered through this record, dressed up in a poppy tune and highly humorous lyrics. The character of this song isn’t ‘suicidal’ just likes to imagine he’s ‘playing SimCity’. Following this is the first single from the album and past world’s hottest record ‘Pedestrian at Best’. This is Courtney Barnett at her most colourfully rambling with a punk riff backed stream of consciousness about…well it’s not entirely clear. The dry witty statements that make up the verses lead to a catchy chorus with her distinctive voice half-shouting “put me on a pedestal, I’ll only disappoint you”.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-nr1nNC3ds]
‘An Illustration of Loneliness (Sleepless in New York)’ begins a transition into a lengthy moodier section and sounds a bit like Nirvana but less growly. With an infectious distorted riff running throughout the chorus this is one of the highlights. ‘Small Poppies’ is a long slowly building song that begins as if playing over the dying light of the evening in a small town but builds to a crescendo with a drawn out and chaotic guitar solo that changes the scenery completely.
‘Aqua Profunda!’ and ‘Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party’ change the tone once again as highly energetic (and short) tracks hinging on a bouncy guitar riff that you could dance to. Again Barnett’s deadpan lyrics are on point. ‘Debbie Downer’, perhaps surprisingly, radiates sunshine. Kim’s Caravan on the other hand is far more sinister in tone. It’s another slow burner and whilst isn’t quite as good as ‘Small Poppies’ provides a loud finale on a scale almost unbefitting of this most wry and care free of albums.
In some ways I was pleasantly surprised by this album as it has a complexity I wouldn’t have otherwise considered it would have and a wealth of genuinely catchy tunes to boot. This isn’t slacker pop or grunge-folk indie rock or whatever; it’s the thoughtful witty musings of a twenty something to that tune and the album achieves great things with it.
Words by Tim Goodfellow