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U.S. Tour Dates
02.18.14 - Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
02.19.14 - DC9 - Washington, DC 02.20.14 - Boot & Saddle - Philadelphia, PA 02.21.14 - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY 02.22.14 - Rough Trade - Brooklyn, NY 02.23.14 - Bootleg Bar - Los Angeles, CA 02.24.14 - Rickshaw Stop - San Francisco, CA Read More
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It was love at first listen for me and Courtney Barnett. That first song was “Avant Gardening,” her irresistibly languid tale of suffering a panic attack while gardening in an Australian heat wave. “I feel proactive, I pull out weeds, all of a sudden I’m having trouble breathing in,” sings Courtney. In the remainder of the song, the ambulance is called and Courtney reflects on the mundane details of going to the hospital, “Andy looks ambivalent / He’s probably wondering what I’m doing getting in an ambulance / The paramedic thinks I’m clever cuz I play guitar / I think she’s clever cuz she stops people dying… I take a hit from an asthma puffer / I do it wrong / I was never good at smoking bongs / I’m not that good at breathing in.”
Courtney’s quirky observational lyrics, delivered in her dry Australian accent, are delightfully refreshing. Courtney sums up the appeal of her songwriting style in an interview with the Australian APRA Music Awards (in response to her song “History Eraser” being nominated as song of the year): “The one thing that always captivates me in a song is just the honesty of the songwriter. That doesn’t mean that it has to be deep, dark personal secrets, it just means that it has to be honest. It could be about going walking to the shop, but if it’s said in an interesting way with that person’s perspective then it makes it a lot more interesting.”
So far, Courtney has released two E.P.’s (EP1 I've got a friend called Emily Ferris and EP2 How To Carve A Carrot Into A Rose), which have been combined as The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas. Courtney’s songs often remind me of the first Liz Phair album… if Liz Phair were Australian and liked to sing about things like masturbating to help yourself fall to sleep because it’s cheaper than Temazepam or going to hipster parties. As 2013 draws to a close, Courtney’s showing up in the “best of” lists all over the place: “Avant Gardening” is the #6 track of the year in NME, the #49 track on Pitchfork’s list, and Spin has named her an “exciting new artist” praising her for "injecting slacker pop with witty lyricism and a gritty lo-fi alt-country lilt."
Courtney Barnett’s debut album The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas is out now on House Anxiety / Marathon Artists.
Courtney’s quirky observational lyrics, delivered in her dry Australian accent, are delightfully refreshing. Courtney sums up the appeal of her songwriting style in an interview with the Australian APRA Music Awards (in response to her song “History Eraser” being nominated as song of the year): “The one thing that always captivates me in a song is just the honesty of the songwriter. That doesn’t mean that it has to be deep, dark personal secrets, it just means that it has to be honest. It could be about going walking to the shop, but if it’s said in an interesting way with that person’s perspective then it makes it a lot more interesting.”
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EP1 I've got a friend called Emily Ferris
Milk! Records
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If Liz Phair were Australian and liked to sing about things like masturbating to help yourself fall to sleep...
Courtney will be coming to America for a short tour in February. It'll be her first time back in the US since last month's CMJ festival, where she played to packed out rooms and received rave reviews. Why would you want to miss out on something like this? I mean, after all, who can possibly resist a girl who does a version of Kanye West’s “Black Skinhead” or who comes up with a rhyme like, “We drifted to a party – cool. The people went to arty school”? Not I, certainly. Not I.
Courtney Barnett’s debut album The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas is out now on House Anxiety / Marathon Artists.
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