The Courtneys

The cover comprises the drummer sporting The Courtney’s own branded snapback cap that would surely make Vice Magazine ‘Do’ list. The songs include ‘Insufficient Funds’, ‘Nu Sundae’ and a paean to Keanu Reeves.

That may all scream ‘hipster band’ and the frivolous connotations that go along with it, but amid the pop-culture preening this lively eight-track debut has real musical substance and razor sharp lyrics.

The Vancouver trio bristle and shine like the discography of Dunedin’s finest Flying Nun bands they’ve soaked up along the way; their influences literally on their sleeves in matching Eddy Current Suppression Ring tattoos.

The trio’s songs stem from sharing cool times and carefree days of road trips, movies, wayward crushes, beaches, TV and beers, but The Courtneys also cut to the chase of what goes on in the miniature of the modern world.

They swoon for Keanu “With your greasy hair, you are my toyland bear/I would pine after you until the point I break” and the guy that brings their mail “Delivery boy, you’re such a fox” and infuse it all with chugging, slacker riffs and a hazy bass to escort a detached vocal that is part Go-Gos, part Valley girl.

In among the fun, issues such as suicide and “Makin’ minimum wage, you just work to get paid/And no one’s gonna give you better reason to live here” are also found.

The Courtney’s homonymous record takes you cruising down the highway singing along with ‘90210,’ the song of this and any other summer.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine