AN artist who has amassed a great deal of hype after  2013 single  ‘Avant Gardener’ was lauded by the music press, Courtney Barnett must have felt the weight of expectation as she began to meticulously craft her debut album. Drawing influence from all manner of different genres and attempting to amalgamate them into a cohesive album, Melbourne based artist set herself no easy task. Luckily, she has delivered a debut record which will delight her current crop of fans and undoubtedly gain her many new admirers.

Kicking off with fuzz laden guitar and a plethora of hand-claps , ‘Elevator Opener’ features a rock ‘n’ roll stomp that recalls Primal Scream during their ‘Give Up But Don’t Give Out’ period. Featuring a paradoxically joyous sounding chorus given its subject matter, it sees Barnett wittily avert a teenage suicide by proclaiming that ‘I’d give anything to have skin like you.’

Styled upon a number of garage rock artists ranging from genre pioneers such as MC5 and The Kinks to 90’s fare such as Hole and Babes In Toyland, ‘Pedestrian At Best’ sees the Australian songwriter at her most unhinged, appearing to spiral into madness among a swriling vortex of rhyming couplets.

‘Illustration Of Loneliness (Sleepless In New York)’ is an exercise in slacker pop excellence, whilst ‘Small Poppies’ begins as a pleasant lilt led by restrained percussion before Barnett’s soaring vocals and a series of squalling, post punk influenced guitar solos demonstrate her capacity to turn hr hand to almost any genre that you could envision.

Centering around a misguided attempt to woo a potential love interest during a swimming excursion, ‘Aqua Profounda’ demonstrates her remarkable ability to turn an ordinarily mundane tale into something altogether more engrossing. Led by a punchy riff and an equally attention grabbing bassline, its 1:59 running time almost seems too short for something so inherently catchy.

One of the album’s standout tracks, ‘Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go To The Party’ recalls the lo-fi stylings of The Screaming Trees and Mudhoney, albeit with a more exuberant tone. Embarking on a tangent of strident guitar virtuosity towards its climax, it often appears as though Barnett is waging a constant war with herself between adhering to her pop sensibilities or abandoning them in favour of more rugged material. Luckily, she doesn’t have to make a decision as her intermittent transitions into the harder spectrum of music hit the mark on every occasion that they occur upon the record.

‘Debbie Downer‘s alt rock guitar is interspersed with occasional bursts of organ that simultaneously conjure up allusions to prog rock and 60’s R&B, whilst Kim’s Caravan sees Barnett experiment with notions of  Nick Cave-esque atmospherics; featuring sombre bass and a steadily advancing sense of dread before veering off into noise rock territory.

Bringing her debut to a close with the folk based ‘Boxing Day Blues’, the final track sees Barnett use her extensive  vocal range to adopt a plaintive tone that is synonymous with the genre. As her guitar slowly becomes inaudible and fades off into the distance, there is no doubt in the listener’s mind that they have heard a wholly impressive and incredibly varied debut album.