Album Review: Courteeners, Pink Cactus Café

Having celebrated the 15th anniversary of their debut album, St. Jude, back in 2023 - and earning themselves their first-ever No. 1 on the UK Charts thanks to the re-issue- Courteeners have demonstrated the kind of staying power that other indie-rock bands from the UK mid '00s could only dream of (the era is pejoratively called ‘landfill indie’ for a reason).

And yet, they’ve always felt like a band that constantly has more to prove. Frontman Liam Fray has admitted as much when talking about Pink Cactus Café, musing that he wants to “shake up” the band’s sound for this new record, moving them away from their Manc-rock roots and towards more experimentation.

With that in mind, PCC aims for a looser pop sound and plenty of collaboration, including with artists like Brooke Coombe and The DMAs. The album is billed as “forward-thinking”, with elements of psychedelia - and even though this might be a bit of a stretch, you get a real sense that the band has benefitted from just trying out new things.

They manage to eke out no shortage of enjoyable hooks and singalong choruses (‘Weekend Shy of a Feeling’ and ‘Sweet Surrender’); elsewhere, songs like ‘Where Are We Now’ remind you that Liam Fray has the type of voice that can command stadium audiences.

• • Out Now