Well this is truly a bold statement isn’t it! But when we sent our team off to review the many acts of ‘End Of The Road Festival’, at Larmer Tree Gardens in Wiltshire back in 2023, that it exactly what our seasoned reviewer Mark Kelly reported on encountering The Courettes, who are also known as The Fabulous Courettes. It’s not just us saying this as this explosive Danish and Brazilian rock band have also been praised by the coolest music magazines around the world!
They have steadily been releasing material since 2015 and in 2020, vocalist and guitarist Flavia Couri and drummer and vocalist Martin Couri, who are The Courettes signed with legendary British label Damaged Goods Records. This put them on the same roster as top international rock icons like Buzzcocks, Manic Street Preachers, Atari Teenage Riot, New Bomb Turks, Amyl and the Sniffers, Billy Childish, Captain Sensible and many others. Their first single by Damaged Goods ‘Want You! Like A Cigarette’ was released in 2020 in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and got airplay at BBC 6 Radio and spins at P6Beat and P4 in Denmark, and the first pressing of the 7” vinyl was sold out in two weeks.
Spring 2021 saw a brand new single, ‘Hop The Twig’, which is an exciting blend of garage, surf, 60s girlie pop and riot grrrl attitude and again got fantastic reviews. There have been no less than 15 releases after this single, with the latest being their ‘The Soul of… The Fabulous Courettes’ long-player which dropped on 27th November last year. This gave fans a dozen decent cuts to enjoy, and you can too by checking it out on their Bandcamp page HERE.
Not content with releasing material The Courettes are known as one of the most hard working bands on the European rock scene and can be regularly found plying their wares on the stages of the world and have later in the year secured the tour support slot for former Strangers frontman Hugh Cornwell. They will be playing live in Brighton on Saturday 16th November at the Concorde 2. However, the duo have now announced a headline gig at The Hope & Ruin on Queens Road in Brighton on Wednesday 23rd April. Tickets are already on sale, so grab yours HERE and HERE.
If you are wondering what the full review of The Courettes said of their performance at ‘End Of The Road Festival’, here it is:
THE COURETTES – End Of The Road Festival, Larmer Tree Gardens, Wiltshire 2.9.23:
As always, when the headliners are finished, there is always more to do at the ‘End Of The Road Festival’. I think I have enough fuel left for one of tonight’s secret shows. As the late great Warren Zevon once said: “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”. So off to The Folly we go to see The Courettes, who I’d missed earlier in the day. The Courettes are a guitar and drums two-piece. Verily, The White Stripes have much to answer for. All over the world, bassists sit at bars crying into their beers as bands such as this are onstage. Redundancy is a terrible thing.
The Courettes are actually a married couple: Flavia Couri on guitar and vocals, and Martin Couri on drums and vocals. Flavia is originally from Brazil, but the band is based in Martin’s home country of Denmark. I have seen them once before, at Hackney Oslo, where they absolutely ripped the place apart, as they do here tonight. They’re like a two person Cramps. If anyone is unsure what rock ‘n’ roll is all about, go and see The Courettes. Then you’ll understand. They put on an amazing show which needs no bells and whistles. What you get is them and their songs, and that should be enough for anyone.
They have a song called ‘R.I.N.G.O’ which is all about Ringo Starr, or as they call him by his given name, Richard Starkey. Martin describes Ringo as “the best drummer in the world”. This is debatable. I’m not convinced that Ringo is the best drummer in the world, but I would say that he’s probably the most underrated. During the early 1970s, John Lennon once said that Ringo “wasn’t even the best drummer in The Beatles”. Okay, so Sir Paul McCartney can play drums, but he would be the first to admit that he’s nowhere near as good as Ringo.
Anyway, back to The Courettes. From the very start it’s constantly audience participation time, which is fine as they immediately have the audience with them. They play ‘Daydream’ which apparently got to No.4 in the UK in February. I can’t say that I noticed, but if Flavia says that’s the case then it must be true! Towards the end of the set, Flavia crowd surfs whilst still playing guitar, which I can’t fail to be impressed by. Flavia and Martin are both superb musicians, and I have to say that The Courettes are one of the best live bands that I’ve ever seen, and I can assure you, there’s a lot of competition!!! The band are currently on tour in the USA, and come back to Europe in October. There are no further UK dates planned at present, but when there are, you must promise me that you’ll go to see them. No excuses!!! If you don’t go, I shall expect a note from your mum explaining why.
The Courettes setlist:
‘Hoodoo Hop’
‘The Boy I Love’
‘Time Is Ticking’
‘R.I.N.G.O.’
‘Until You’re Mine’
‘Daydream’
‘Trash Can Honey’
‘Want You! Like A Cigarette’
‘Night Time (The Boy Of Mine)’
‘Tough Like That’
‘Boom! Dynamite’
‘Hop The Twig’
‘Shake!’
