Courting
New Last Name
(Lower Third)
3/5
Liverpool-based rock band Courting’s second album, New Last Name, is centred on an ex. An ex who has settled down and is happier for it: it’s “Someone Like You” if Adele was a soccer hooligan.
But perhaps this comparison is misleading. New Last Name is not meant to be pored over like an Adele album. Occasionally, something does stick out as poignant, but, for the most part, the lyrics are not the main selling point.
What is a selling point, however, are the melodies. The guitar riffs are infectious. There are also a few nice little experimental flares: a synthesizer that oozes in and out of the tracks, some brass sprinkled here and there.
Lead singer Sean Murphy-O’Neill is rough but indelibly charming. The songs’ narrator is heartbroken, yes, but it would seem this is the kind of heartbreak that involves a pint of Guinness with your favourite blokes. And there’s nothing wrong with that.