The Courettes

Raw and raucous garage rockers the Courettes are an international phenomenon in more ways than one — not only have they attracted a loyal following in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, their guitarist and singer is from Brazil while the drummer hails from Denmark. United by the universal language of rock & roll, the Courettes play no-frills garage punk with plenty of energy and a melodic sense that makes room for old-school punk, ’60s pop, girl group sounds, surf music, and revved-up psychedelia. The Courettes sounded elemental and energetic on their 2015 debut Here Are the Courettes and were tighter and a bit more musically ambitious but still capable of shaking the house on 2018′s We Are the Courettes, while 2021′s Back in Mono boasted more tough rock & roll captured in the group’s own vintage recording facility.
Based in Denmark, the dynamic duo behind the Courettes is lead singer and guitarist Flavia Couri, originally from Brazil, and drummer Martin Couri, a native Dane and Flavia’s husband. The two met in Brazil in 2013, when his band played on a bill with hers during a tour of South America. They quickly hit it off musically, and in 2015 Flavia relocated to Denmark, where she and Martin formed the group. The duo went into the studio to lay down some songs, and while they had initially planned to add more musicians to the lineup, they were so happy with the way they sounded with just guitar and drums that they made their duo permanent. They struck a deal with the German label Sounds of Subterrania and quickly cut their debut album, 2015′s Here Are the Courettes, a 20-minute blast of rock & roll initially released on 10″ vinyl.
In 2016, they traveled to England to record the single “Boom! Dynamite!” b/w “T-C-H-A-U” at Toe Rag Studios, an all-analog facility favored by Billy Childish, the Kaisers, and the White Stripes. 2017 saw the release of Alive from Tambourine Studios, a live session cut in a studio in Sweden, and in 2018 they took a bit more time and delivered the 12-song LP We Are the Courettes. Frequent gigging at clubs and festivals in Europe and the United Kingdom, as well as closer to home, helped to spread the buzz about the band, and also in 2018, they cut a single, “Voodoo Doll,” that not only included a guest appearance from Brazilian horror icon José Mojica Marins (aka Coffin Joe), but was recorded using a boutique technology called Vinyl Video, that etched a music video on the flipside that can be played on a standard television with a special decoder. In 2020, the British Damaged Goods label, home to acknowledged influence Billy Childish, signed the Courettes, and they reissued Here Are the Courettes and We Are the Courettes on vinyl, as well as issuing a CD, Here We Are the Courettes, which collected both albums in full on one disc. The band’s third album, Back in Mono, was issued by Damaged Goods in October 2021; it was produced by Søren Christensen at Starr Sound, the band’s own recording studio lovingly assembled from vintage audio gear from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. ~ Mark Deming