Courting - New Last Name

Lower Third

16 months removed from their debut, Courting return with another dose of maniacally twisted pop music. Stretched across a range which you could only really refer to as 'staggering', the ground covered on New Last Name feels like a step in all directions at once. A spinning, swirling, whirling disco-ball of dizzying aims and laudable results.

With the Courting camp there's no resting on laurels or banking on past feats. A need to move forwards persists. The band have vision. They see(foresee) themselves in a light that many fail to. A respect for one's own artistic credibility seems to grip the band. A confidence in moving on from things - whether that be specific scenes, fans, friends, or foes - sits centre to the bands need to make moves. Courting, in their distinctively skewed way, persevere.

Not many can do the happy-go-lucky pop-y pieces with all of the interesting antics going on in the background - and often times hidden in the foreground. The singles - apart from 'Emily G', that's a Courting diamond right there; one of the best that the decade has to offer thus far - released in the run-up to New Last Name were a bit speculative - although they were still home to the aforementioned unique Courting skew. In the context of the album, as singles usually do, they find a new life - a home to fulfil their potential. Things change depending on their setting. Angles and aspects which were once unattainable present themselves.

Ambition - in a visionary sense - is somewhat lost in the Tik-Tok age. Long-term thinking. Long-term execution. You can find songs from New Last Name on the livesets that the band were playing in support of Guitar Music - most notably 'Flex' and 'America'. The Liverpool lads remain ahead of themselves, and ahead of quite a lot of things in many regards.

Courting are an essential creative outlet. The restless need to find a new side to their output is admirable. New Last Name is a testament to artistic merit. There may not be another band as deserving of our adoration at this moment in time.

Two for two. 

Time will treat them well.