Liverpool’s own Post-Punk outfit, Courting, have been on a roll. ‘Lust for Life’ marks their third album release since 2022, and whilst being a decidedly terse album running to a cool 25 minutes, offers a level of trashy distortion that sets it apart from their prior discography.
Pleasingly disjointed, ‘Rollback Intro’ hooks us with its whimsical Penguin Cafe Orchestra style strings before plunging us into the noisy borderline Breakcore, yet strangely cathartic ‘Stealth Rollback’. Throughout the album, Courting toe the line between distorted chaos and delicately written ballads that meld together ever so well, as exemplary in ‘Eleven Sent (This Time)’. As the album nears its end, ‘Likely Place To Be’ leaves us in a similar fashion as we were greeted, awash with noise and grandiose vigour, albeit a little more hectic and aggressive than the first two tracks.
There’s a confidence to this album's songwriting that is worthy of praise. Courting present a smorgasbord of variations on their grounded and distinctive style in this brief encounter. Examples like ‘Lust For Life’ build solemnly and sparsely, with reflective synth melodies dancing around the main groove, to then plunge us into a section that pounds with intensity, to then finish with a cool and casual outro section reminiscent of Pavement’s relaxed sound. A highlight of the album is ‘Pause At You’, a percussively rich track filled with scratchy guitars topped off with a fantastically catchy chorus.
With all the twists and turns this album offers, it holds firm in its stylistic distinctness. A short but captivating listen, there is a lot here that is certainly worth your time. Courting have again cemented their place as one of the most exciting bands at the moment.
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