Liverpool-based post-punk quarter Courting — Sean Murphy-O’Neill (vocals, guitar), Sean Thomas (drums, vocals), Josh Cope (guitar) and Connor McCann (bass) — exploded into the the national scene with last year’s Grand National EP, a critically applauded effort that led to coverage from the likes The Needle Drop, CRACK, Dork, NME, Clash and London Evening Standard — and landed on a number of end of year lists, including NME‘s 100, Dork‘s Hype List 2022, Daily Star‘s Ones to Watch 2021 and DIY‘s Hello 2021. Adding to a rapidly growing national profile, the act landed two singles on BBC Radio 6′s playlist.
Building upon last year’s incredible momentum, the Liverpool-based post-punk outfit recently signed to [PIAS] and they announced a run of UK tour dates slated for September and October. Along with that, they released a new single “Tennis,” the first bit of new material from the band since the release of last year’s Grand National.
The James Dring-produced “Tennis” sees the members of Courting expanding upon their sound with smatterings of electronic fuzz, bloops, bleeps and feedback that explodes into cacophony paired with angular guitar lines, a driving bass line, forceful rhythms and an enormous, shout-along worthy hook-driven chorus paired with Murphy-O’Neill’s sardonic lyrics delivered with vocals, which vacillate between a restrained monologue and a bristling and acerbic spittle and bile-fueled singing. The song captures the push and pull, and the bitter and endless back and forth within a dysfunctional, transactional relationship with an uncanny sense of realism.
“‘Tennis’ is a paypig’s personal redemption narrative, set in ‘the city’, and told in two parts. A twisted tale of two lovers’ back and forth, bound by cricket, bodybuilding, and money. A story as old as time,” the members of Courting explain. “We named the song ‘Tennis’ as a logical (but unrelated) sequel to our two previously released sports-related songs. To us, this felt like a natural ending to that idea. Dynamically, the second part of the song is supposed to represent a shift in tone for the character in which they realise their own worth and leave the situation that is set within the first part of the song.”
2022 UK TOUR:
SEPTEMBER:
20th Sept – Sneaky Petes, Edinburgh
21st Sept – King Tuts, Glasgow
23rd Sept -The Cluny, Newcastle
24th Sept – The Key Club, Leeds
25th Sept – Polar Bear Music Club, Hull
27th Sept – The Fulford Arms, York
28th Sept – Sidney & Matilda, Sheffield
29th Sept – The Sugarmill, Stoke on Trent
30th Sept – Arts Club, Liverpool
OCTOBER:
4th Oct – Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
5th Oct – The Exchange, Bristol
6th Oct – Cavern, Exeter
7th Oct – The Junction, Plymouth
8th Oct – The Old Fire Station, Bournemouth
11th Oct – The Joiners, Southampton
12th Oct – O2 Academy, Oxford
13th Oct – Facebar, Reading
14th Oct – The Boileroom, Guilford
15th Oct – The Green Door Store, Brighton
18th Oct – The Portland Arms, Cambridge
19th Oct – MOTH Club, London
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
