Courtney Barnett


(Copyright © 2019 Piero Scaruffi | Terms of Use )
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015), 7/10
Lotta Sea Lice (2017) , 5/10
Tell Me How You Really Feel (2018), 5/10
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Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett debuted with two EPs, I've Got a Friend Called Emily Ferris (2012) and How to Carve a Carrot into a Rose (2013), summarized on the double EP A Sea of Split Peas (2013). Their songs introduced an articulate songwriter who can pen quirky, witty and complex stories. At the same time, they introduced a cohesive and pragmatic garage band that took inspiration from rock music of the 1960s. The slim guitar pattern of Lance Jr (with the soon to be famous line "I masturbated to the songs you wrote") harkens back to the Them's Gloria. Add harmonizing vocals and Are You Looking After Yourself could be a dreamy Mamas & Papas shuffle. Scotty Says could be a blues-rock jam of the Creedence Clearwater Revival. There's good guitar noise in Canned Tomatoes (Whole) but the seven minutes of Porcelain and the static repetition of Ode To Odetta are hard to swallow.

The second EP opens with a misleading pop ballad of the teen-idol era, Out Of The Woodwork with stately rhythm and jazzy piano, but the rest is much more interesting: Don't Apply Compression Gently is a folk-rock lullaby with vintage Farfisa organ, Avant Gardener borrows the pulsation and the tone of the Velvet Underground, punctured by a brief, wildly distorted, guitar solo, History Eraser sounds like the Pretenders covering Bob Dylan, and David intones a martial rhythm and riff reminiscent of the Sixties revival of the Fleshtones generation. The EP is closed by the dreamy, ethereal slow-core ballad Anonymous Club, perhaps to achieve some kind of symmetry with the opener.

Barnett's first album, Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit (Milk, 2015), betrays, first and foremost, a Velvet Underground fixation. Pedestrian at Best sounds like a cross between the Velvet Underground's Sister Ray and Lou Reed's Dirty Blvd. That Sister Ray rhythm is slown down to an almost reggae beat in An Illustration of Loneliness (Sleepless in New York). Lou Reed-ian overtones via Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers permeate also Dead Fox. But it's the entire vocabulary of the first decade of rock music to be appropriated by Barnett's garage band. Elevator Operator is like Sheryl Crow covering the Rolling Stones Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party is an echo half a century later of countless stomping garage rave-ups. The anthemic riff, the soaring refrain and the tinkling organ of Debbie Downer evoke psychedelic ditties of the 1960s. The bluesy seven-minute Small Poppies has a guitar solo worthy of the heroes of the 1960s, as is the psychedelic guitar solo at the end of Kim's Caravan.

Lotta Sea Lice (2017) was a collaboration with Kurt Vile that yielded only a couple of interesting songs, Continental Breakfast and Peepin' Tom.

Tell Me How You Really Feel (Milk, 2018) lacks the punch and the verve of the previous one. Hopefulessness is yet another variation on Lou Reed, but this time in slow motion (the song is more relevant for the long coda of noisy guitar), and City Looks Pretty is yet another boogie a` la Velvet Underground (with a two-minute bluesy instrumental coda that sounds like a completely different song). She does a good job of imitating Neil Young in the power-ballad Need a Little Time, but the songs sound frequently amateurish, like the way she tries to sound poppy in Crippling Self-Doubt and a General Lack of Confidence and in Sunday Roast. If this album had been recorded by a less hyped musician, it would have gone unnoticed.

(Copyright © 2019 Piero Scaruffi | Terms of use )
(Translation by/ Tradotto da Pierluigi Napoli)

La singer-songwriter australiana Courtney Barnett ha debuttato con due EP, I've Got a Friend Called Emily Ferris (2012) e How to Carve a Carrot into a Rose (2013), riassunti sul doppio EP A Sea of Split Peas (2013). Le loro canzoni presentano una songwriter eloquente che riesce a scrivere storie stravaganti, spiritose e complesse. Allo stesso tempo, presentano una garage band compatta e pragmatica che si ispira alla musica rock degli anni ‘60. L’esile pattern di chitarra di Lance Jr (con la subito celebre frase "I masturbated to the songs you wrote") richiama Gloria dei Them. Basta aggiungere le armonie vocali e Are You Looking After Yourself potrebbe essere uno shuffle sognante dei Mamas & Papas. Scotty Says potrebbe essere una jam blues-rock dei Creedence Clearwater Revival. C’e’ un rumore di chitarra piacevole in Canned Tomatoes (Whole) ma i sette minuti di Porcelain e la ripetizione statica di Ode To Odetta sono difficili da mandar giu’.

Il secondo EP apre con una ingannevole ballata pop dell’era dei teen-idol, Out Of The Woodwork con ritmo imponente e piano jazzato, ma il resto e’ molto piu’ interessante: Don't Apply Compression Gently e’ una ninnananna folk-rock con un organo Farfisa vintage; Avant Gardener prende in prestito la pulsazione e il tono dei Velvet Underground, trafitto da un breve, selvaggiamente distorto, assolo di chitarra; History Eraser suona come i Pretenders che fanno cover di Bob Dylan; e David intona un ritmo marziale e un riff che ricordano il revival Sixties della generazione dei Fleshtones. L’EP e’ chiuso dalla sognante, eterea ballata slow-core Anonymous Club, forse allo scopo di realizzare un sorta di simmetria con l’opener.

Il primo album della Barnett, Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit (Milk, 2015), lascia trapelare, innanzitutto, una fissa per i Velvet Underground. Pedestrian at Best suona come un incrocio tra la Sister Ray dei Velvet Underground e Dirty Blvd di Lou Reed. Il ritmo di Sister Ray e’ rallentato fino a diventare un battito quasi reggae in An Illustration of Loneliness (Sleepless in New York). Sfumature Lou Reed-iane per mezzo dei Modern Lovers di Jonathan Richman permeano anche Dead Fox. Ma e’ l’intero vocabolario del primo decennio della musica rock ad essere fatto proprio dalla garage band della Barnett. Elevator Operator e’ come se Sheryl Crow facesse cover dei Rolling Stones, Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party e’ un eco dopo mezzo secolo di innumerevoli rave-ups garage pestanti. Il riff antemico, il refrain slanciato e l’organo tintinnante di Debbie Downer evocano le canzoncine psichedeliche degli anni ‘60. La bluesy Small Poppies, di sette minuti, ha un assolo di chitarra degno degli eroi degli anni ‘60, cosi’ come l’assolo di chitarra psichedelico alla fine di Kim's Caravan.

Lotta Sea Lice (2017) e’ una collaborazione con Kurt Vile che ha prodotto solo un paio di canzoni interessanti, Continental Breakfast e Peepin' Tom.

Tell Me How You Really Feel (Milk, 2018) manca dell’impatto e dalla verve del predecessore. Hopefulessness e’ ancora una variazione su tema Lou Reed, ma questa volta al rallentatore (la canzone e’ piu’ rilevante per la lunga coda di chitarre noisy), e City Looks Pretty e’ ancora un boogie a’ la Velvet Underground (con una coda strumentale blues di due minuti che sembra una canzone completamente diversa). Fa un buon lavoro nell’imitare Neil Young nella power-ballad Need a Little Time, ma le canzoni sembrano spesso amatoriali, come nel modo in cui prova a suonare pop in Crippling Self-Doubt and a General Lack of Confidence e in Sunday Roast. Se questo album fosse stato registrato da un musicista meno pubblicizzato, sarebbe passato inosservato.