Cross-continental husband and wife fuzz-rock two-piece The Courettes have just announced the forthcoming release of their thrid album Back In Mono on 15th October via legendary garage punk imprint Damaged Goods Records, home over the years to the likes of Billy Childish, Buzzcocks and TV Smith, and to get us all to speed ahead of the new record, the label have this week unveiled remastered re-releases of their first two records, their 2015 debut Here Are The Courettes and its 2018 follow-up We Are The Courettes, on vinyl along with a handy 2-in-1 cd release Here We Are The Courettes.
Packed to the gills with runaway train rock & roll stompers and shimmering 60s girl group inspired dancefloor shakers, they provide a perfect introduction to the duo’s vintage rock sound and serve to whet the appetite to the point of ravenous insatiability for the new LP.
We caught up with Flavia (vocals/guitar) and Martin (drums/vocals) for a track by track guide to both albums.
HERE ARE THE COURETTES
I´ve Been Walking
The very first song I wrote for The Courettes, by that time we were still in a long distance relationship and I was hours in planes in a never ending Rio – Copenhagen trip, and on a constant jetlag “I´ve been flying through a millions seas, “I´ve been trying my days to seize, but I´ve been awaking with the last sun beans”…
Go! Go! Go!
A song about a late hours party where people are so wasted that conversations are just like monologues spoken by rolled tongues and it’s so much bullshit you just have to go, go, go!
Money Blind
An in your face rock ’n’ roll riff with lyrics plaguing about how capitalism sucks and how we can see through all the plastic dreams they sold to us.
The Boy I Love
My all time favourite! Our first girl group-inspired song. I wrote it for Martin, he’s the boy I love, all his characteristics are in the lyrics, loud drumming, space age design addiction, great driver, bad dancer, from marriage proposal to UFOs, all is there. Lots of love wrapped in a killer fuzz guitar.
Push It Too Hard
This one is a duet with Kim Kix of Powersolo (great Danish band btw.) and producer of “Here Are The Courettes”. It’s a man and a woman complaining that the other is pushing too hard. It has a rockabilly feel to it, great reverb vocal sound and a drum solo The Ventures style.
Shiver!
Go go rhythms and lyrics about the fascination with things, people and substances that give us shivers down our spine.
I Wanna Be Your Yoko Ono
Another love song dedicated to Martin, and also a little homage to strong women like Yoko Ono and Brigitte Bardot.
We´re gonna die
A nice fuzz riff tune people always dance to at our shows. A friendly reminder that we should enjoy our lives while we can.
WE ARE THE COURETTES
Hoodoo Hop
Uptempo groove, fuzz n´magic straight from the deep jungles of South America, jujus, voodoo and hoodoo.
Time Is Ticking
Another girl group-inspired tune. Lyrics are dedicated to a friend gone way too soon. While we´re running around chasing money, time is ticking.
Come Inside
Private extracts from the day we made our son Lennon. Or another love song fuelled with fuzz and sweat.
Nobody But You
A classic garage rock stomp, about when you meet the guy or girl you fancy on the streets and try to act cool.
T-C-H-A-U
A classic garage rock tune. “Tchau” means goodbye in Portuguese. It’s about leaving behind people that treat you unkind. I learned when moving to Denmark that you have to say goodbye to some things and people in life in order to let the new ones in. You have to have the courage to close some doors and in order to open new ones.
Strawberry Boy
And back to love songs, a true, genuine, ever growing, limitless, undying love song about our wonderful son Lennon. He’s our strawberry boy. A soulful ballad, one of my big time favourites. I wrote the lyrics a couple of weeks after he was born, soaking of love and awe and dazed by sleepless nights. “I would kill for your smile, I will colour your dream sights, stay up day and night”, so many things I wanted to tell my baby, but made it to a chorus, two verses and a C part. And he’s proud and loves the song now at 5 years old.
Voodoo Doll
Great track guided by a vicious riff, a ferocious sax like The Sonics and exploding on top is the Brazilian horror legend Coffin Joe putting his spells. Black magic, karma, laws of attraction and 1,2,3, needles on the voodoo doll. Don´t mess with The Courettes!!!
All About You
A song about breaking free from a relationship with a very toxic person, and finding your inner light again.
The Way You Walk
Enough love songs, here a song of hate! When the very little things about someone annoys you to the bones, “we´re through, boy, and you won’t see me cry”.
The Teens Are Square
We performed once at a Danish high school and we were amazed how those teenagers there were so square. So we wrote this song to them. Maybe punk rock can still bring them some passion and we´ll have a world with more young people with shining lights in their eyes and a lust for life, rebellious and wild down the streets again.
Boom! Dynamite
About feeling like dynamite and things that turn you on and make your blood run fast.
Fool Fool Fool
A sad but beautiful song. Tough lyrics about how to deal with big regrets in life. I played a bitter sweet dulcitone piano to enhance the melancholic vibe, on a minimalistic arrangement inspired by The Velvet Underground.
The Courettes head out on tour around the UK in October, catch them at the following dates – tickets available here:
Fri 15 Portsmouth The Loft
Sun 17 Norwich Norwich Arts Centre
Tues 19 London The Lexington
Thrs 21 Hastings The Piper
Fri 22 Sheffield Yellow Arch Studios
Sat 23 Middlesbrough Westgarth Social Club
Sun 24 Hull Adelphi
Mon 25 Newcastle The Cluny
Tues 26 Manchester Night N Day
Wed 27 Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms Speakeasy
Thrs 28 Glasgow Mono
Sat 30 Brighton The Albert
Sun 31 Cardiff The Moon
Both albums are out now via Damaged Goods on vinyl or as a 2 CD set – order your copy here
Find out more on The Courettes’ official website
Introduction by Paul Maps
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