I miss long song titles, partly from an aesthetic point of view. Check the track listing for ‘Bona Drag’ or ‘Your Arsenal‘ by Morrissey. It’s like reading a book. Various emo bands at the turn of the century had a go at ridiculously long titles but the effect was offset by some of the utter garbage they produced. Except for Brand New. I love Brand New. So here’s Courtney Barnett with a terrifically titled song off of an already impressively-monikered album, ‘Sometime I Just Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit’. This album is so good, ‘Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go To The Party’ is buried halfway through the second side of the record. Yeah, I said ‘side’ and ‘record’, I bought it on vinyl, wanna fight about it?
Some of the magic of Barnett’s output comes from the fact that relatively mundane and everyday observations are made interesting by the delivery and attention to detail and this track is no exception. ‘I want to go out but I wanna stay home’ goes the chorus. And who hasn’t thought that. ‘I like hearing your stories/but I’ve heard them all before’ is another ear catcher.
The video is made up of footage taken from of an impromptu gig Barnett played outside Camden Tube Station earlier this month. It drew quite a large crowd by the looks of things. Obviously, loads of people watching started filming on their mobiles so some of that footage is included as well. I had a night out in Camden once. Ended up in Proud Camden nightclub, sitting in a stable. There was live music and a burlesque show. Cost a fortune. Nowadays, you can see someone who’s released one of the albums of the year busking on the street.
“Sometime I Just Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit” is out now on Milk! Records (Am gonna go head and assume you have it already)
Barnett’s seemingly never ending tour comes to the UK near the end of the year.
London The Forum (November 25)
Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall (27)
Manchester The Ritz (30)
Liverpool O2 Academy (December 1)
Glasgow O2 ABC (2)
Bristol O2 Academy (4)
http://socialhub.courtneybarnett.com.au/
http://milk.milkrecords.com.au/