Concert Review: The Courtneys Bringing “Flying Nun” Pop To Baby’s All Right
There are so many things that are right with The Courtneys that it is hard to pinpoint what I love most about their concert. Do I love their sparkling wit that shines as they coyly interchange with the audience and each other? Do I love that their music empowers me to be awesome? I do not know, but in their Baby’s All Right performance, they proved why Brooklyn is Where It IS AT!
Most importantly, I have to gush about drummer/ lead vocalist Cute Courtney. I am so beyond fascinated with her as a musician. I do not think that most people understand how hard it is to play an instrument and sing. By now it is so common that it is a “one-trick” pony for an audience, but you need sincere memory power to remember your vocal and instrumental chords at the same time, and then try to look like a functioning/ cool human being while doing it. There is a reason that people quip “Can you walk and chew gum at the same time?” The minute you start doubling on tasks, simultaneously, is the minute you have thrown a challenge to yourself in doing well and looking good while being super busy. Cute is excellent and her talent, alone, can be worth the ticket, but then it is deliciously backed by Classic Courtney’s sweet personality/ surfing guitar riffs and Crazy Courtney’s raving bass, which makes your concert ticket a hot one. As Cute pounces on the drum with a superhuman force that would be saved for Titans, and sings in her sweet, “flying nun” pop vocals, you begin to think upon the last time you did anything impressive.
Yes, The Courtneys describe their music as “sun-drenched, flying nun inspired pop”, and when you see them in concert you understand why they got so specific and imaginative with their description. With how many sub-genres there is to pop, it is has grown into a hassle to both learn and equate the differences, but I have to love anyone whose label is based on a Sally Field’s 1950’s sitcom. Like the iconic character, The Courtneys demeanor and music leaps for both its nobility and strength. You cannot help but feel more energized after hearing “Silver Velvet’s” kick-drum or want to spring into action when you hear the underscoring bass of “Tour”. Moreover, Cute’s voice has the casual brightness that this character shared in making everyone that crossed her path feel smarter and kinder after knowing her. The Courtneys’ songs never get too grim or, at least, never, sonically, feel as if they have entered an emotional abyss they cannot swim out. I say this because surf/punk pop can type-casted as trying to be loud and anarchic, which it can be and there is nothing wrong with that. Yet, in a time, where going “dark” is the cool thing to do in music, I appreciate a trio that want to give you, as they put it, “sweet licks that’ll stick with you for days”. Like a lollipop, with a bubblegum center, their instrumentals are cherry flavored and sugar rushing, but it is Cute Courtney’s drumming vocals that are the chewable center/ heart of this band. For More Information On The Courtneys Click Here.
