Written by Tom Bedding
The EP begins with such a blast, the title track is an epic a punchy punk meets mod affair that will get anyone going! The guitars sound rich and bouncy, while lead singer, Sean Murphy-O'Neil, sings about his huge distain of the horse racing event, that the song is named after. ‘Well I don’t care if it dies, its entertainment’ is one of the few honest lyrics that takes rightful aim at the event, its fair game by the band and overall this opener is en epic piece of post-punk, that is highly fun and engaging.
credit: MARIEKE MACKLON
The cool and witty sounding guitars in ‘Popshop!’, sets the tone for the band to point their punk gun, at the streaming curse that is currently over the music world. Again, the band have full right to really go hard at this due to how many music consumers do not think or care about giving independent music a fair chance, for instance an artist roughly only makes £0.0038 per stream. The repetitive nature of the ‘over and over and over again’ takes aim at the wallpaper music climate that has no room for genuine art, which is reinforced by Courting referencing ‘Shape Of You’, the talisman of said music curse.
Courting really bring together what they do and represent in ‘Crass’, setting ablaze everything in their path with the distorted production and fascinating lyrics. There are so many moments that deserve to be spoken about lyrically, (the potential sex with Kayne lyric has to be mentioned of course), yet the ‘sometimes I go up north but only to take pictures’ lyric stands out with its clever, undercut dig at Southern England’s fickle and selfish interest in what the Northern parts of the country has to offer.
‘Grand National’ finishes with the tense ‘Slower Burner’, which acts like a train building up steam before a fantastic finale. Yes there are many bands in the UK waiving the post-punk flag, ranging from IDLES to Goat Girl to Shame to Sports Team but the Liverpool based band are doing their own thing and standing out epically and importantly. Courting keep you entertained, buzzed and thinking at all times on their recent EP, which is leaving so many excited for what is coming next from them.
You can stream 'Grand National' on all streaming platforms and can purchase the record at your local record store! Banquet Records: https://www.banquetrecords.com/courting/grand-national/NSWN0034V
Comments