The Courteeners

The Courteeners是一支来自英国的独立摇滚新军，顺利得到了Polydor公司的一纸合约。在著名制作人Stephen Street（Blur, Babyshambles）的帮助之下，乐队的处子专辑《St. Jude》宣告面世。在英国流行音乐专辑榜中，《St. Jude》空降第四位，取得了相当不错的成绩。当然，这要得益于他们主打单曲的表现。单曲《Not Nineteen Forever》在英国单曲榜中空降19位，是单曲的成功促进了专辑的销量。 作为一支非常年轻的组合，The Courteeners的音乐是青春向上的。无论是曲调、节奏，还是主唱的嗓音和吉他的音色都透出年轻人的朝气。吉他的音色都透出年轻人的朝气。
by Stewart Mason
Hailing from Manchester and featuring a frontman, Liam Fray, with a penchant for both talking up his own positive attributes and getting into verbal scraps with other bands, the Courteneers have gotten regular comparisons in the UK music press to the leading lights of three previous waves of Manc Britpop, the Smiths, the Stone Roses and Oasis. And to be fair, the band's alternately jangly and bombastic brand of indie guitar rock bears the influence of all three acts, as well as comparisons to contemporaries like the Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian. The Courteeners formed in Manchester in 2006, when the 22-year-old Fray -- already becoming well known around town for his solo acoustic singer-songwriter gigs -- brought three of his childhood friends to form a proper band: lead guitarist Daniel Conan Moores, bassist Mark Cuppelo and drummer Michael Campbell. The newly-formed Courteeners apparently took their name from an alteration of a make of car Ford produced in the UK in the '60s and '70s, the Cortina. (There already was a group called the Cortinas, a first-wave British punk band best known for their 1978 single "Defiant Pose" whose guitarist Nick Sheppard and drummer Daniel Swan later joined the final lineup of the Clash and American power-poppers the Sneetches, respectively.) Signing to Loog Records, a pseudo-indie owned by Polydor, the Courteeners released their limited edition debut single, "Cavorting," in August 2007. Three more singles, "Acrylic," "What Took You So Long?" and "Not Nineteen Forever," made the charts between October 2007 and March 2008, prior to the release of their debut album. Produced by Stephen Street (the Smiths, solo Morrissey, Blur, etc.) and featuring a painting of Audrey Hepburn by Fray on the cover, St. Jude was released in April 2008, reaching number 4 in the UK album chart.