Courtney Barnett

Courtney Barnett

After her stunning first release The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas, Courtney Barnett’s official debut album was hotly anticipated, and she delivered on the high expectations earlier this year with Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. Her current live setup is just her, a bassist, and a drummer, and the shows are a grungy power-trio reading of all the highlights from both The Double EP and the new album. There’s a sense of looseness, rawness, and loudness in Barnett’s shows that’s only hinted at on her records. They play these songs like they’re on the brink of shuddering apart and shattering onto the ground, but always keep it dialed-in to the exact place where you know they’re in total, masterful control of the maelstrom. As good as her studio recordings are, it’s temping to wonder whether Barnett could ever capture this exact kind of energy for an album: a classic sweaty, visceral rock show that’s a great wake-me-up on the day you fly down to Tennessee and start your Bonnaroo experience.