Courtney Barnett is fantastic because of who she is, when she is. Barnett writes the songs every aspiring songwriter wants to write. The mundane becomes exotic; the simplistic appears complex. The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas combines Barnett’s two EPs, both of which were released previously on her own Milk Records label.
The EPs are presented in reverse chronological order, perhaps with a view to illustrating where Barnett is now, rather than where she started. There’s the lazy Out of the Woodwork, the Byrds-ish Don’t Apply Compression Gently and Avant Gardener, the delightfully whimsical story of Barnett’s brush with mortality. History Eraser is dirty psych rock polished up to a sparkling sheen and David breathes new life into that famed Bo Diddley-via-Yardbirds-via-David Bowie riff.
From the first EP, Anonymous Club is arguably the most astutely contrived antidote to the modern era’s narcissistic obsessions; Lance Jr is the best song never found on a Pebbles compilation. Are You Looking After Yourself threatens to explode into Mick Ronson action but evolves into seven minutes of acid-rock Simon and Garfunkle, Scotty Says has a riff that you want to wrap up and give to every one you love, just because it’s so fucking good. Canned Tomatoes (Whole) takes us down the Hume Highway with a Sand Pebbles soundtrack and loves every single moment, Porcelain is chemical country for the suburban sharehouse and Ode to Odetta is wondrous proof that you can do anything you want with three chords and an ear for melody.
The beauty of Courtney Barnett’s music – and it is beautiful, make no mistake about it – lies in its organic quality. This is pop music like it’s always supposed to have been.
BY PATRICK EMERY
Best Song: Scotty Says
If You Like These, You’ll Love This: The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and the Sand Pebbles.
In A Word:Courtney
