The Courtneeners – “Not Nineteen Forever”
Though four guys in Manchester, UK’s The Courtneeners have been friends since age 10, they’ve only been gigging together since October 2006. After signing to Polydor Records the following year and releasing a couple of singles, producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur) rang them up, wishing to produce their debut album. The fruits of those sessions were issued as St. Jude in April.
The Courteeners have been the focus of much music-magazine hype across the pond. Since such “Second Coming of [Insert Other Famous Band Name Here]” headlines seem to be de rigueur there, I’m not going to argue whether The Courteeners rate such coronation. But I do know that I like song “Not Nineteen Forever” a whole lot.
Released as The Courtneeners’ fourth UK single, “Not Nineteen Forever,” calls to mind a more insistent James (another Manchester favorite), while the dense narrative brings to mind Morrissey. And who doesn’t dig a cautionary tale about the impermanence of youth? Hear here:
The Courteeners got a nod from Moz himself. Playing some of his favorite songs on an August edition of KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, Morrissey featured The Courtneeners’ “What Took You So Long?” in his set.
St. Jude was released Stateside on Tuesday, now available via iTunes, Amazon.
The Virgins – “Teen Lovers”
Meanwhile on this side of the Atlantic, another four talented lads have also been benefiting from some major buzz. Though The Virgins may wear a familiar scruffy, late-night vibe, don’t mistake them for another of those by-the-numbers Brooklyn bands. Members Donald Cumming, Wade Oates, and Erik Ratensperger were born and raised in the once-meaner streets of Manhattan, while the fourth—Nick Ackerman—is a Connecticut transplant.
Cumming and Oates met while on a Ryan McGinley photoshoot in Mexico, and after fleshing out some songs Cumming had written, recruited Ratensperger and Ackerman to join the fold. According to The Virgins’ mythology, a contact with Atlantic Records predated the existence of the band; Cumming had only a demo and no band to speak of.
Still, Cumming’s connections in the New York fashion scene served him (and the band) well. Designer Agnès B. asked The Virgins’ to open for Sonic Youth and Patti Smith as part of her Paris Fashion Week show; it was only their third gig. That high-profile exposure grabbed the attention of the Gossip Girl producers, who featured the entirety of the band’s five-song debut EP in an episode last fall (Cumming first confused the show with Gilmore Girls).
I missed all of this, as my first encounter with The Virgins came only this summer. Having heard “Teen Lovers” on Sirius, I picked up The Virgins’ self-titled LP (released in June). On tracks like the opener, “She’s Expensive,” Cumming sounds a lot like Elvis Costello. And though there are many tracks to love on the 34-minute disc (try the fantastic “One Week Of Danger”), I remain most committed to the angular swoon of “Teen Lovers.” Hear here:
Purchase The Virgins via iTunes, Amazon.
