Listen, here’s the deal. You need people in your life who can tell a goddamn story. I mean really tell it, so it leaves you laughing and nodding and pouring another glass of whatever it is that makes it all pretty funny now that you think about it. So it breaks your heart not into pieces, but open. People who remind you that what makes it all ok isn’t reaching a certain conclusion but the sweatered acceptance that our stories go on and on along the page until one day they end mid-sentence, one way or the other. That it’s all pretty absurd, after all, and so worth it.
Courtney Barnett is one of those people. Anonymous Club will put its hand over your mouth, no matter what you’re doing when it comes on. You’re going to laugh out loud when she opens Lance Jr. by confessing “I masturbated to the songs you wrote”. You’re going to play this record over and over again. Not just because it’s catchy and brilliant, but because it’s top-shelf storytelling. It’s you and your friends on the porch with your stories.