On Courtney Barnett’s Bandcamp page, the credits to The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas list her backing band as: Courtney Barnett & The Courtney Barnetts. It’s the kind of in-joke humor the Melbourne singer/songwriter often employs, including on the Split Peas’ indie hit, “Avant Gardener”.
The 2013 compilation includes two Barnett EPs: How To Carve A Carrot Into A Rose (2013) and I’ve Got A Friend Called Emily Ferris (2012). These rambling titles should give you a hint of the overflowing events in Barnett’s lyrics.
Her unmoved delivery recalls the slacker vibe of Pavement‘s Stephen Malkmus. But as boredom leads to doing something about the malaise, which leads to anxiety, a relaxed Barnett dishes the chaotic details of a health crisis on “Avant Gardener”, her harrowing slacker anthem.
About “Avant Gardener”
“Avant Gardener” describes Barnett’s efforts to survive a “mundane” Monday. So she weeds a garden under blistering heat and recalls a conversation with “the nice lady next door” who also has gardening plans.
“The yard is full of hard rubbish, it’s a mess
And I guess the neighbors must think we run a meth lab
We should amend that, I pull the sheets back
It’s 40 degrees, and I feel like I’m dying
Life’s getting hard in here, so I do some gardening
Anything to take my mind away from where it’s supposed to be.”
But the track continues with the singer in the back of an ambulance, panicked and unable to breathe, narrating the traumatic event in a lazy-day voice.
“Oh no, next thing I know, they call up Triple O
I’d rather die than owe the hospital till I get old
I get adrenaline straight to the heart
I feel like Uma Thurman post-overdose and kick-start
Reminds me of the time when I was really sick, and I
Had too much pseudoephedrine, and I couldn’t sleep at night
Halfway down High Street, Andy looks ambivalent
He’s probably wondering what I’m doing getting in an ambulance.”
The Song’s Best Lyric and Notes on Slacking
It’s difficult to choose the best line from “Avant Gardener”, but the following lyric shows the kind of dry wit Barnett casually drops: “The paramedic thinks I’m clever ’cause I play guitar / I think she’s clever ’cause she stops people dying.”
She sounds unbothered, then sings about needing an asthma inhaler and ends the song by repeating: “I’m not that good at breathing in.”
You might classify Barnett’s music as slacker rock, but the word “slacker” implies a loafer. Slackers veg out while the world passes them by. But Barnett reports on life’s movements with vivid sketches of boredom, loneliness, and depression. “Avant Gardener” feels like Barnett hanging out on a friend’s couch, telling them about the wild day when she nearly died.
Photo by Mia Mala McDonald/Courtesy Grandstand HQ