ALBUM REVIEW The Soul Of… The Fabulous Courettes – The Courettes

It’s fair to say THE COURETTES have been around for a while and have distinguished their sound through their high-energy performances and their vintage aesthetic. Now the Brazilian/Danish garage rock band is getting up close and personal on their brand new album The Soul Of… The Fabulous Courettes.

Opener You Woo Me sets up a catchy little riff that pretty much runs throughout. It has a touch of funk to it in the keys but can be classed more as an indie track. The drums are tight and come crashing into the choruses and set up a carefree feel whilst driving the track. Next track California is a lot more laidback with a lighter and more summery feeling. It’s not surprising with the lyrics painting a dreamy image and being insanely happy.

Keep Dancing keeps the dreamy and happy feeling in the music with some considerably darker lyrics which is very reminiscent of a lot of 80s alt bands. This one is mostly driven by the string section and is lighter on the conventional instrumentation of a rock band but it still works. Here I Come is more of a straight up rock-fuelled track. This is where the guitar really shines for the first time on the album, with the solo showing there is some technical proficiency there.

Wall Of Pain is again whole different kind of track with the band taking things a little slower but with more of a focus on the synth section. It channels the warmth of the earlier track California but it’s more personal and it feels like the band are opening up more not just on this track but on this album as a whole.

Released as a single, SHAKE! sounds a little Jack White-inspired with the fuzz effect on the guitar but the band are a little heavier on instrumentation and the vocals have more of a doo-wop feel running throughout whilst also keeping a more heavier garage rock style.

Better Without You is an empowering track. It employs a lot of fuzz on the guitar parts, and with the carefree vocals there is definitely more of a bouncy feel to this one. It also tackles some more personal topics which is really the aim of this album hence the name. Moving onto Run Run Runaway the band go light on instruments and create a bright track that is more delicate and a lot easier going. This is one of the strongest points of the album.

The final track For Your Love shows off the guitar work more as it features vocals and guitar and slowly picks up throughout. The male vocals are also featured more heavily and it’s as if the band are using everything they’ve got whilst still keeping the track not too fast or heavy. It’s a great track and it really encompasses the band as a whole and is a great way to wrap things up.

All in all this is a good album. There are some tracks which are certainly skippable and even those aren’t necessarily bad but the album is mostly filled with great tracks and some absolute gems. They say so much on this album that it’s easy to forget THE COURETTES only consist of two band members but they certainly know the meaning of quality over quantity.

Rating: 7/10

The Soul Of… The Fabulous Courettes is set for release on September 27th via Damaged Goods Records.

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