Review | Courting – Guitar Music

Label: Play It Again Sam

Although the name Courting seems as though it’s been around for a while, the Liverpool based four piece are only just releasing their debut album, ‘Guitar Music’. Of the title, Courting say “We felt that Guitar Music as a phrase was reductive and therefore decided to create a record with the intention of it being a body of work that could redeem being a “guitar band”, by pushing it to different boundaries”. This sentiment is felt from the moment that you hit play and the noises, distortion and glitches of ‘Cosplay/ Twin Cities’ attacks you through the speaker, almost challenging the listener from the off.

‘Tennis’ enters soon after with rampant drums driving this indie by way of post punk musing on self worth in a relationship. ‘Jumper’ leans more into the sunshine, beer drenched indie of the 90’s whereas ‘Uncanny Valley Forever’ instantly switches gears to a dreamy bombastic song interspersed with little bouts of chaos that keeps you on your toes.

Songs such as ‘Loaded’ and ‘PDA’ fit their mission statement in that it pushes the boundaries of what you would expect in a modern guitar record. The indie riffs may be there but with them come distorted electronic drums and all manner of noises and weirdness.

‘Guitar Music’ is an album that does what it sets out to do. It pushes the boundaries of what you’d expect from a guitar based album. All of the hallmarks of an indie record are there, they’re just thrown in a blender with a keyboard and a drum machine and set to high. The energy spills out of the speakers in waves and feels ready made for a sweaty gig. Expect great things from Courting if ‘Guitar Music’ is how they’re kicking things off.