While the music world often thrives on the quick turnover, four whole years separate Vancouver trio the Courtneys’ eponymous debut and their just-released follow up, The Courtneys II. With that in mind, you could argue that there’s a meta bent to drummer/vocalist Jen Twynn Payne’s lyrics on the new album’s jangling, stomping “Tour,” in which she sings “What you are and what you want to be / It takes a long time.”
Guitarist Courtney Loove is a little hesitant to confirm how self-reflective that line is, considering she doesn’t write any lyrics for the band, but she concedes that the album has been a long time coming. “Being in the Courtneys has definitely taught me that there’s value to being patient,” she says, on the line from her recently adopted hometown of Los Angeles, where she's working as an animator on a children’s series called Niko and the Sword of Light.
It’s already been a prolific 2017 for Loove. On top of the new Courtneys LP, the debut cassette from her side project, Gum Country, came out in January through L.A.’s Lollipop Records. Both albums traffic in pastel smears of indie guitar, simply stated vocals and to-the-point beats.
While the Gum Country album came together quite quickly, that’s not to say the Courtneys were lacking in ambition. The sophomore full-length’s “Iron Deficiency” was written shortly after the band’s first collection was released in June of 2013, while the excellent ’80s-vampire-flick-referencing “Lost Boys” was issued as a single later that year. The holdup owed to a mix of must-take opportunities, like an opening slot on a North American tour with Tegan and Sara, and the band’s desire to put together a worthy sequel. “We were playing a ton and touring, so we were writing songs here and there, but it was slow. It took us two years to have enough for another record, and then it was a process to record it, too,” Loove explains, revealing that the band abandoned a batch of subpar recordings before tracking The Courtneys II a second time.
Like their debut, the new release traffics in pepped-up, four-on-the-floor drum work, Sydney Koke’s soda-sweet bass fizz, and Loove’s limber, lightly-distorted guitar. Despite Payne’s penchant for posting Instagram videos of herself singing songs by artists like the Pistol Annies, “Country Song” isn’t the Courtneys’ formal entry into the realm of C&W. “Jen loves country music, I think Sydney kind of hates country music, and I’m kind of in the middle,” the guitarist says, adding that Koke had initially balked at what she perceived to be a twangy lead riff. “It was just a working title for that jam for forever. We thought [‘Country Song’] was a really good name for it, ultimately. It never sounded country. I think it sounds like Big Star.”
With the trio preparing to get back on the road for a headlining tour, and production wrapping on Niko and the Sword of Light for the season, Loove’s animation career is being put on hold. Though nothing’s set, the artist has plans to work her day gig into the Courtneys’ itinerary at some point. “There was a brief moment where I was asked by Nickelodeon to pitch a series. I pitched the Courtneys Animated Series,” Loove reveals, going on to disclose that the project stalled over creative differences with the network’s brass. “They wanted us to change the characters, and we were just like, ‘This is based on us!’
“If you have a show with three characters, one needs to be the leader and the other two have simplified characteristics, which I understand. I work in animation, so I know what they want. I just realized right away that wasn’t going to work for our band. It’s really important that we’re very equal. We want our cartoons to be loyal to who we are as people.”
The silver lining is that if the Courtneys’ devoted fan base can wait four years between albums, they probably won’t mind waiting a little longer for their animated debut.
The Courtneys II is released Feb. 17 through Flying Nun Records.
