Liverpudlian indie rockers Courting can verge on annoying sometimes, with their predilection for Auto-Tuned vocals, various overwrought forays into ill-chosen genres and, frankly, the Fiona Apple-esque title of this LP. However, what was once callow and undercooked is thrilling and fully realised on their third album in three years. Stealth Rollback is pure metallic electronic joy, feral cats fighting on a broken keyboard. Pause at You conjures ecstatic punk funk, a guaranteed floorfiller at imaginary indie sleaze nights, while the savage, increasingly intense Namcy scratches the indie anthem itch. Even better, After You sounds like each band member bet their life savings that they could finish the song first – and they all won.
Adding sax and strings to fill their sound works wonders. By the time they confidently sashay through the multiple-movement title track, it’s clear that this is one of those great leaps forward that bands can only take by growing together over time. The tragedy of today’s music economy is that so many acts like Courting struggle to release two albums, let alone three. Enjoy this lot while you can – they’re special.
