Track Review: The Courteeners - The 17th

So Liam Fray and co are back. Their 5th album 'Mapping the Rendezvous' is out on October 21st which will no doubt prompt those who love a good ellesse polo and the odd smoke bomb to wet themselves with excitement. But in my opinion, it's a shame that album release date isn't 50 years in the future if The 17th is anything to go by. 

This first glimpse of new material is the perfect example of The Courteeners at their most complacent. The track never really gets going as it lumbers along at a mind numbing pace with a 'Don't You Want Me' drum beat and tip toe pianos. Liam Fray does his best Matt Berninger impression throughout with both his vocals and his lyrics but falls massively short of The National frontman. When Fray tries to wistfully paint a romantic picture with lyrics such as "So let's find that place with the pink neon sign / the one that points to you and says do you wanna be mine" and "everyone can hear you but nobody's listening / we've got another wedding and another christening"  he sounds woefully like a love struck 14 year old who's just discovered a thesaurus. 

What's worst about The 17th however, is the sheer lack of ambition it shows. With making this the lead single The Courteeners have simply shown that this album isn't going to progress their sound or even them as a band at all. All it does is tell everyone that Mapping the Rendezvous is going to be the same drivel as their last album, and the one before that and so on. 

Because The Courteeners have never changed since their second album; their happy to push the same old shit knowing they've got the fan base that'll lap it up regardless of what it sounds like. The band are happy enough to coast along with tours in venues that aren't your best mates front room but still aren't arenas without pushing the envelope and having the bollocks to actually take a risk on something a little different now they have an established fan base. But then again, while ever The Courteeners continue to sell out tours we'll never seen any real musical progress from them.