The Courtneys drift back to the sound of the early ’90s while reflecting a fun-in-the-sun west coast mentality—delivering a special blend of fuzzy slacker pop that draws comparisons to Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and The Clean. The musicianship is tight, the hooks are sharp, and the songcraft is dynamic. Courtney Loove’s dreamy guitar riffs add a timeless pop element to the punk backbone formed by Sydney Koke’s heavy driving basslines, and drummer/lead singer Jen Twynn Payne’s snare kick combos. Stemming from Vancouver’s thriving music scene—their debut and self-titled full length is on its third pressing after last year’s release via Hockey Dad Records. You can also catch it on tape from Burger Records and Gnar Tapes. Recorded over one weekend on Vancouver Island, The Courtneys exudes vibes of the ladies’ strong sun-drenched Flying Nun / New Order / 90’s grunge influence, and has gained critical acclaim from Rookie, Pitchfork, NME, Noisey plus many more. Catch ’em on the road this spring with Tegan and Sara.

 

Courtney

How did your interest in music begin?  There was always lots of music in our household as far back as I can remember. Me and my 2 brothers all did the rounds of the standard lessons you get as a kid—piano first, then we all played tenor sax in middle school band for the sake of convenience because it was the instrument we had in the house. And then I picked up guitar around age 12. My dad played music full time before I was born and was a sound guy when I was a little kid so that was an influence for sure. By the time I was 16 all I can remember myself doing was sitting in my room working out Smiths tabs from the internet.

If you had to explain your music to a stranger, what would you say? I usually tell strangers its “poppy garage rock” or something, or “have you heard of Sonic Youth or Pavement?”

 

 

What’s your favorite thing about your city? Because I am from the island (Vancouver Island), Vancouver has a big city feel to me and I love that. There is always so much stuff going on and so many people doing cool things all the time. In a big city with at least a couple million people life never gets the chance to feel stagnant and there is never that feeling “get me the hell out of here!”. We also have a shit ton of nature all around us which is essential for human sanity. My favourite thing though is the music scene here, so many great active bands such as Watermelon, White Poppy, and Dead Ghosts to name a few.

What do you do when you’re not working on music? Lift weights/ swim at the YMCA if its winter, cruise around in my car if it’s summer, and draw cartoons.