Feeling the heart and soul of The Courettes, as they prepare to wrap up their UK tour at The Wedgewood Rooms
Ever since they first played Portsmouth five years ago, The Courettes have established themselves as firm local favourites.
Now they are back for their fourth visit and headlining The Wedgewood Rooms in Southsea.
For just two people, married couple Flavia (vocals and guitars) and Martin Couri (drums and vocals) make an almighty noise when performing live.
Over the course of four albums, they have been refining their sound, which blends the girl groups of the ’60s, with the dynamics of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, and pure garage-rock with the spirit of punk.
Since the release of 2024’s The Soul of The Fabulous Courettes, the pair have rarely been off the road – touring across the globe and making new fans everywhere they play.
Highlights have included playing Little Steven’s Underground Garage cruise out of Miami, and in April this year, when they opened the show for The Damned’s 50th anniversary show at Wembley Arena.
They clearly did something right, because the punk legends have invited them onto their full US tour starting in October.
Martin recalls: “That was a huge, huge night, but the show went so fast. We were told before, it's very early that you start, so don't be disappointed if there's nobody there. But we played to about 6,000 people, so we were very happy.”
Flavia adds: “We were actually worried about opening, because it was four bands. But then we saw it was Peter Hook and The Light, and Marc Almond from Soft Cell, so it was, wow! Of course we're going to be the first band!
"We're very proud because we only play original songs, right? So we just played a gig and then after us it was songs like Love Will Tear us Apart, Tainted Love, Neat Neat Neat – all these huge, classic songs. It was an epic evening, really legendary.
"But we were very proud, we were doing this playing our own songs.”
“Most of the people there didn't know us,” says Martin, “but we could still play alongside these huge songs of the other bands, and we got a really good response from the audience – and some good reviews. And of course, it was the biggest show for us to date.”
And they’re already looking forward to that US tour.
"It starts on October 16 in Boston,” explains Flavia. “We're going to do the east coast, mid-west and west coast – it's a huge tour. It's going to be 22 dates with The Damned, and we're going to do two of our own headline shows, one in Los Angeles and one in New York, and then we have time to do one supporting show in Cleveland supporting The Flaming Groovies.
“It's going to be a great tour.”
But before all of that, they’ve got the current UK tour to wrap up here in Portsmouth. It’s a run which has already seen them sell out the iconic 100 Club in London.
"This is going to be our last show in the UK for a while,” Flavia says, “because we're going to work on a new album. So people should come to Portsmouth!
"There's a new single out in November, by Damaged Goods Records in the UK and Europe and Wicked Cool records, Little Steven's American label in the US.
"Then we're working on other tracks for the album. We wrote all the songs, we just need to record them because we've been so busy on the road!
They’ve been working again with regular collaborator Søren Christensen back in Denmark, where the pair live (Martin is Danish, Flavia is Brazilian).
"I think we've recorded five songs so far, and then it's back to the studio in December (after The Damned tour).”
Fans can hear a couple of those new songs in the set at the Wedge show – including the forthcoming single, Killer Kiss.
The band are looking to keep pushing their sound forward, while still keeping the Wall of Sound style that they love.
"We're taking different steps with all the records because we don't want to do the same album again and again,” says Martin. “We're taking several steps towards other things.”
Flavia elaborates: “There’s still a lot of girl groups, still a lot of garage, and little bits and pieces of other stuff. We've been very inspired by Al Green's church in Memphis, which we visited last time we were in the US, with his gospel musicians that he had there. That was really a mind-blowing experience.
"When we've been travelling the US and the rest of the world, we've been gathering inspiration for the new album.”
They promise that there’ll be plenty more darkness wrapped up in the lyrics, hidden – or not so hidden – behind the catchy melodies and powerful riffing, all driven by Martin’s propulsive drumming.
However, while the pair are clearly keen to talk about what they’re working on, they also want to keep some things under wraps.
"It's always like making a kid, right?” laughs Flavia. “We really like to take our time on it. It's a bittersweet process.”
Check out the work in progress at the gig, and feel the soul of The fabulous Courettes...
What you need to know
The Courettes play at The Wedgewood Rooms in Albert Road, Southsea on Saturday, September 12.
Support comes from label-mates Quick Romance.
Doors 7.30pm.
Tickets £20.
Go to wedgewood-rooms.co.uk.
The duo have so far released four albums, the most recent being The Soul of The Fabulous Courettes, plus numerous singles and EPs, available from their Bandcamp page.