Album Review: The Courettes – Hold On, We’re Comin’

Older readers may recall the time when Natalie Cole recorded a duet with her father, Nat “King” Cole. The event was somewhat controversial, as Nat had at that point been dead for some 26 years. Alas, and through what Billboard described at the time as “the magic of digital technology,” Nat’s voice was applied to a new multitrack recording, the end result of which was a “virtual duet.”

In some quarters, the whole enterprise was seen as falling into the category of “just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.” But the song earned three Grammy Awards and went Top Ten in six countries, and the album from which it came went 7X Platinum. So whatever one thinks about the manner in which that “new” version of “Unforgettable” was created, it’s hard arguing against that kind of success.

Try as I might, I sense that something similar is going on with Hold On, We’re Comin’, the new album from The (Fabulous) Courettes. This eleven-track album (one of those tracks is classified as a “bonus” cut) features the duo “with” a parade of well-known acts from the ‘60s. What we have here is some kind of combination of original recordings (or parts of ‘em) combined with Flavia and Martin Couri playing along.

Now, did they run the original versions of The Grassroots’ “Wait a Million Years” and Johnny Thunders’ “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” through the now-trendy AI demixing program? This I cannot answer. And if they did – or even if they didn’t, they did something – how on earth did they get permission/legal clearance to do so? The answer to this question also remains in the idunno column.

All I can do, alas, is comment on how the stuff sounds.

Well, it sounds… weird. The album opens with San and Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” a classic written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. We hear Sam Moore and Dave Prater singing, and we also hear The Courettes playing along in a style that recalls nothing so much as Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life.” Yeah, that’s kinda… weird. And there’s a strange kind of crosstalk (Flavia?) smeared across the whole thing, making the finished product sound very much like a live performance of the song in which some annoying couple in the row in front of you is having a loud conversation at the same time.

The Grassroots’ “Wait a Million Years” has a spooky overdub that sounds like bad-trip Pet Sounds: Phil Spector-esque production, and whatever remains of the original recording buried so deeply in the sonic stew as to be unrecognizable. Set all of that aside, and it’s pretty cool. But that’s a lot to set aside. I think some of the original backing vocals remain. And again with the crosstalk!

The Flamin’ Groovies’ “Shake Some Action” gets the same treatment, and while it does answer the (unasked) question “What would the song sound like if 1962-era Phil Spector had been at the recording console?” I’m not sure anybody’s, y’know, asking that. And again, what remains from the original I do not know. If the answer’s “nothing,” that’s fine, but then what’s this all about?

I’m not going to run down each of the tracks here, because what The Courettes do to them is pretty much the same thing each time. The Association’s “Never My Love,” Maurice Williams’ “Stay” and Joey Dee’s “Peppermint Twist” are all processed through this very odd wringer, and not one of them comes out better for the experience. “Stay” in particular is something of a mess, reminiscent of the (justifiably) unreleased Spector sessions for John Lennon’s Rock and Roll LP.

And while Jay and the Americans’ “Come a Little Bit Closer” is noted as the bonus track, the real outlier here is the sole contemporary cover (or re-jig, or whatever you wish to call it). A processing of Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” doesn’t seem to include any of Tay-tay’s recording; it’s pretty good, but its whole reason for existing remains resolutely unclear.

In fact that’s my ultimate verdict on Hold On, We’re Comin’. Yes, they could do this (by “can” I mean ability, not permission). But the question remains: Should they have done? I’m leaning toward no. As ever, of course, your mileage may vary. As for me, hold on, I’m goin’… to listen to something else now.