Score: 5/5
Australian indie rocker Courtney Barnett does the seemingly impossible. She’s able to turn stories of loneliness, objectification and paranoia into chunks of clean and polished garage pop.
Her debut album, “Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit,” is a deeply emotional and impeccably written work of indie rock. Barnett wears her heart and her mind on her sleeve. Before even listening, her razor wit is displayed with an album title that is blatantly honest about her pensive nature.
As far as songwriting, “Sit and Think” is Barnett’s homage to herself, showing how much sentiment she can cram into a lyric, all while sticking to the rigorous rhyme schemes she sets up. One of the best examples of Barnett’s humor is the album’s first single, “Pedestrian at Best.”
The single tells Barnett’s commentary on being a woman in the music industry. Relating it to the uncomplicated misogyny of being catcalled on the sidewalk, she rebuts the sexualized glorification of women that meshes with the jealousy of success. Barnett is having none of the industry nonsense, singing, “Put me on a pedestal and I’ll only disappoint you.”
Any humor of “Sit and Think,” though self-deprecating, is one of Barnett’s best weapons against both her adversaries and her own ego. Tied with her fear of loneliness, this album’s joke is always on its author.
The song “Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party” details Barnett’s ideas about her own friends and their feelings toward her recent success. The people at the “party” see her as entitled and brownnosing.
The fear of being judged and an anxiety of social situations blend together to exhibit Barnett’s personality. As with most of her songs, Barnett lays it on the line, her chorus stating, “I wanna go out, but I wanna stay home.”
Songs like “Dead Fox” and the lengthier “Kim’s Caravan” mark Barnett’s paranoid demeanor toward the world and its many biological dangers. Her juxtaposed fears of loneliness and commitment or healthy living and death are what make her music erratic and sharp. There are few clear and direct instances of Barnett’s musical influences. The song “Debbie Downer” gives off a strong vibe of jangly folk like that of R.E.M.
“Boxing Day Blues,” is the final track of “Sit and Think.” Significantly softer than the rest of the album, this song plays well as a closer. Barnett’s voice is both sultry and longing, suggesting her ambiguous nature in relationships as someone who either loves or is loved.
“Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit” is only the first step for Barnett. Despite the youth of her career, it is clear that she has the knack for songwriting for herself and not solely for listeners. Instead of focusing on how stably this album plays now, consider how it will hold up in five, ten or fifteen years, because Barnett will hopefully succeed that far into the future.
You can reach Gerald Ducote on Twitter @geraldducoteTDR.