Kevin Bronson on January 30th, 2015

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Not to get all hyperbolic or anything, but Courtney Barnett’s “Pedestrian at Best” makes us believe in rock ’n’ roll. First, there’s the no-frills crunch ’n’ swagger, the work of the Australian singer-guitarist with bandmates Dan Luscombe (guitar), Bones Sloane (bass) and Dave Mudie (drums). Timeless. Then there are the 27-year-old’s shout-sung lyrics, funny and biting, an existential crisis on a bender. (Said lyrics are worth a read; they’ve been published here with the video.) The song is the first from Barnett’s forthcoming album “Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit” (due march 24 via Mom + Pop Music). Her 2013 collection of garage-rock nuggets “The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas” charmed the socks off just about everybody, and “Pedestrian” makes us think it was no accident.

||| Previously: Live at the El Rey, live at Coachella.