In a digital, DIY world that breeds more new artists than ever before, sometimes it takes a genuinely captivating point of view to really stand out. Such is the case with Aussie singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett, whose debut LP is Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit.

 

A stunning lyricist who paints piercingly vivid sketches of small moments, Barnett sings in a blunt, deadpan voice somewhere between Liz Phair and Joan Jett. With their earworm melodies and crisp production, Barnett's songs are riveting-from character-driven opener "Elevator Operator" to gorgeously swaying centerpiece "Small Poppies."

 

Aussie singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett established herself as a wordy, clever storyteller with her debut full-length, and she earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in the process. Her songs unfurl at a stream-of-consciousness pace, narrating the mundanities of daily life over garage-rock guitar. She sings about about the benefits of owning a percolator, the burnout of office workers, and even, at one point, restlessly declares mid-song that she might be hungry. But the poetic attention Barnett pays to everyday experiences belie her greater anxieties beneath the free-wheeling music

 

 

Side 1

1. Elevator Operator

2. Pedestrian At Best

3. An Illustration of Loneliness (Sleepless in New York)

4. Small Poppies

5. Depreston

 

Side 2

6. Aqua Profunda!

7. Dead Fox

8. Nobody Really Cares If You Go To The Party

9. Debbie Downer

10. Kim’s Caravan

11. Boxing Day Blues