Courtney Barnett’s Stay in Your Lane: A Return to Modern Aussie Punk

It has been a couple years since we had a record from Courtney Barnett and that was an instrumental soundtrack album entitled End of the Day. This is an excellent vibes record that I really love and a departure from her usual indie napalm….to get some of that tasty Aussie indie slacker punk we have to go back to Things Take, Time Take Time back in 2021. So, you can imagine my joy when I saw a new single from her pop up on my feed. With her move to a new record label and traveling in the US, I was starting to worry that she was going to pack it up. Let’s dive into Stay in Your Lane and see what we have.

Much like Barnett’s earlier work on Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit and Tell Me How You Really Feel (my fav record), her latest single has that unique Aussie indie punk energy. An 80s drum line with a ripping bass line is met with Courtney’s classic discordant and biting electric guitar. Her instrumentation lies in that grey area between chaos and DIY jam…a little like if Bikini Kill had a surf holiday in Bondi. The song ebbs and flows between electric guitar soaked crescendos and stripped back honest punk. A raw propulsive energy runs throughout the track and has a driving power moving the track forward. This is the punk I’ve been missing.

Courtney’s Dylan-esque delivery and writing has always been what I have enjoyed most out of her music. She writes lyrics that are too long for the verse, creates unique and vivid imagery and is unapologetically personal. Her organic slacker vocals are just perfect for the song’s structure and are no full show here. Lyrics like “Feel like a fish on a hook/I’m crying like a child would” and “‘Cause now I’m dreaming of the worst case, best case” bring me back to the excellent writing of her previous records. Singing about the consequences of not staying in your lane, whether for her or for others, is a song everyone can relate to. The interesting writing combined with her Aussie twanged Riot Grrrl vocal is magic.

This is Courtney Barnett in her element…punking out to a song about the consequences of relationships with some vivid lyrics. What Barnett has that artists like Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, Tracy Chapman, Dylan and Leonard Cohen is how she can elevate everyday life into incredible music. This is Courtney Barnett at her best and I hope a new record is on the way…and she tours it in Australia.

Listen to Stay In Your Lane