Sydney born but now resident in Melbourne, 27-year-old Courtney Barnett has been getting noticed in all the right places over the last couple of years thanks to a barnstorming appearance at America's influential CMJ music showcase and a brace of self-released EPs which showcase her witty, rambling lyrics and energetic, fuzz guitar-driven power pop.
Glasgow's Riot Grrrl-inspired duo Tuff Love are already big fans and it's clear that Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, Barnett's debut album proper, will bring many more. Expect her songs to be soundtracking episodes of New Girl before the year is out.
Musically, it's all a little grunge-by-numbers. But what Barnett lacks in compositional sophistication she more than makes up for in the way she parlays her wide-ranging subjects - love, yearning, dead-end jobs, dead-end suburbs and genetically engineered food are just a few of them - into lyrics which are fresh and funny and which are delivered in a laconic Aussie accent that ramps up the kook factor even higher.
Opening track Elevator Operator, with its picture of a man trailing crumbs from a Vegemite sandwich, sets out her stall early and from there it's a headlong dash through a collection of rhyme-spitting stream-of-consciousness story-songs that always, but always, keep you guessing.
Barry Didcock
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