Words by Dominic Rose
Legs stretched, confident & with my adrenaline steadily rising.. The taste of astroturf that sears from Courting’s latest single ‘Tennis’ propels more than just its own deftly framed, classically ‘punk’ chord progression [V / IV / I for those who invest in that kind of thing] over the ensuing four minutes.
credit: Charlie Harris
Quintessentially British, Courting do well to dredge up the spirit of the pitch & invoke a high-velocity repartee seen by fellow guitar-driven droll artists such as Dry Cleaning. Using Tennis as a stand-in for the wilful, contemptuous search for abundance [and subsequent dismay] the track hits for the heart & doesn’t relent - “I’m not some piggy-bank, you can’t just piggyback off me” - these lines belt out of the earphone as their wordplay drips dutifully toward my encroaching canal of understanding. I’ve had this track on repeat for an hour now. Courting find a clarity in this feral sprechgesang sound that is at once musically fulfilling & lyrically addictive. Launching from their past work with tracks like ‘Grand National’, this song hits with an immediate rush of blood to the head & cements their now dogged & noisy guitar-pop as something urgent, matured & honestly quite stylistically impressive. 4 Hideous Minks out of 5 - has anyone got a postal address?
Listen to Tennis
Courting's 2022 UK TOUR: SEPTEMBER: 20th Sept - Sneaky Petes, Edinburgh 21st Sept - King Tuts, Glasgow 23rd Sept - The Cluny, Newcastle 24th Sept - The Key Club, Leeds 25th Sept - Polar Bear Music Club, Hull 27th Sept - The Fulford Arms, York 28th Sept - Sidney & Matilda, Sheffield 29th Sept – The Sugarmill, Stoke on Trent 30th Sept - Arts Club, Liverpool
OCTOBER: 4th Oct - Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham 5th Oct - The Exchange, Bristol 6th Oct – Cavern, Exeter 7th Oct - The Junction, Plymouth 8th Oct – The Old Fire Station, Bournemouth 11th Oct – The Joiners, Southampton 12th Oct - O2 Academy, Oxford 13th Oct - Facebar, Reading 14th Oct - The Boileroom, Guilford 15th Oct - The Green Door Store, Brighton 18th Oct – The Portland Arms, Cambridge 19th Oct - MOTH Club, London TICKETS GO ON SALE FRIDAY 8TH APRIL AT 10AM BST HERE
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