IN REVIEW: Courtney Barnett - "Tell Me How You Really Feel"

Sophomore albums are always intriguing; when an artist releases their first album, there's often a hint of what's to come, in that there's sure to be artistic growth and sonic exploration on future releases no matter how great that debut is. Sometimes that bright future leads to great strides and acclaim, and sometimes there's a fizzle out; when that first record is successful and/or acclaimed, the stakes are far greater for the follow up, and there's much more pressure to build on what that debut provided.

In Courtney Barnett's case, her debut was both acclaimed and successful; 2015's Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit set the critics' hearts aflame and introduced her to a much wider audience than perhaps she or anyone else had planned on. As for me, I named Sometimes my Album of the Year in 2015, praising its witty observations and '90s slacker rock throwback vibe.

Tell Me How You Really Feel is a darker, louder, more personal and pensive record, and one that relies more on space and tension than thrills; this is evidenced by slow-burning opener Hopefulessness, which builds and boils over its hazy, grungy five minutes until there's literally a teapot whistling. To be sure, there is more standard Barnett fare (whatever that could possibly mean after two EPs and one album) to be heard, and lazy rockers City Looks Pretty and Need a Little Time (the latter a clear highlight) will be more than enough to please fans brought on board early who aren't craving too much change just yet.

At its core, though, I feel like Tell Me How You Really Feel is a reactionary record. Sometimes overwhelmed, sometimes angry, it's ultimately a response to Barnett's whirlwind success; lead single Nameless, Faceless doubles as both an indictment of anonymous criticism and the sinister psyches of men. It acts as the album's centerpiece alongside caustic garage rocker I'm Not Your Mother, I'm Not Your Bitch, together acting as a statement of intent; Barnett may seem unassuming at a glance, but she's more than willing to fight.

Lyrics on this record mark the most glaring shift, as Barnett moves away from wordy, metaphoric observation pieces and toward more personal accounts; her relationships are analyzed rather than those of characters, which makes for a much different album thematically. It's perhaps also the biggest leap from first to second record, as Barnett seems to conjure more emotion and wit with less words.

Overall, while it may lack the excitement of her debut, Tell Me How You Really Feel turns out a very assured and well thought out record. It's also the way successful records should be followed, in my opinion; it's not an amplification over what came before, nor is it a wild about face or simply more of the same. Rather, this is an extension, a batch of tunes that exhibit some realized potential while taking a few interesting chances that prove there's still more potential to be unlocked.

May 18, 2018 • Milk!/Mom+Pop
Highlights City Looks Pretty • Need a Little Time • Help Your Self

Year in Rock 2025

Alright, I've got some explaining to do. By now anyone who's visited this blog is well aware of how infrequently I've used this space in recent years; aside from the occasional fertile year of content, I really haven't posted all that often over the last five years or so. There are many reasons for this, which have already been outlined in previous apology posts; but, essentially, it boils down to my own laziness and the cold reality that blogs are, like Refused (again), fucking dead. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for a triumphant return to reviews, or even semi-regular posts, but: a) I feel like Year in Rock posts have always belonged here and, even though I've experimented with different methods of presentation recently and been satisfied, the "blink and you missed it" unveiling via Facebook stories this year was perhaps ultimately a disservice to the records I lauded. After all, cramming the list into short videos isn't too far off from ju...

Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Sam Roberts Band

SAM ROBERTS BAND I Feel You From: Collider Released: May 10 Having already endured the breakout success ( Brother Down was Canada's it rock song of 2002), the tentative dabbling in the U.S. market, as is the rite of passage for all moderately successful Canuck artists (2003's debut We Were Born in a Flame was the best time to try; one of the best albums of the year, it made a small dent in the American mindset upon its release there a year later), the difficult, druggy third album (the aptly named 2005 disc Chemical City ), and the subdued creative step backward (2008's Love at the End of the World , aside from hit single Them Kids , was really kinda bland), it seems according to script that Sam Roberts would start settling in on his fourth album (and first with the band credited as equal contributors), Collider (you know, I think it was a bad idea to give me brackets). Well, as far as settling in goes, Roberts does and doesn't on Collider . W...

IN REVIEW: Rancid - "Trouble Maker"

As far as punk rock goes, it's hard to name a hotter hot streak than the trio of records Rancid cranked out between 1995 and 2000; the star making ...And Out Come the Wolves , the far-reaching Life Won't Wait and their balls-to-the-wall second self-titled album solidly positioned Rancid as leaders of the second generation of punk. It also preceded a period of slow progression, as Rancid would take eleven years to release their next three records. By the time ...Honor Is All We Know came in 2014, many fans (myself included) had to wonder whether or not this was the end of the road. Such concerns are handily dealt with on the closing track of the standard edition of their ninth record, the positively punishing This Is Not the End . Well, okay then, that's sorted. Now, what of this new record? What do we make of the use of their original logo on the cover, a logo that hasn't graced a Rancid record in 25 years? Is this a throwback to the band's heyday, a new begin...

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