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Personal
Parquet Courts first piqued my interest with “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience” a lively punk number kissed with ska/dub rhythms. That grew into a fixation when the jaunty “Tenderness” rolled around (sorry about the "fan-cam" quality on that video). Both came from the band’s 2018 release Wide Awake!, which didn’t mean anything to me at the time, but does now.
A Little History
“The songs are told from a first-person perspective about experiences we’ve had, what someone feels like when fighting a square job from 9-5, and finding beauty and meaning in the world. It’s really important to all of us, and a lot of people can relate to that.”
I’m about to struggle to write much of interest about the (mostly) New-York-by-way-of Texas Parquet Courts. That has less to do with them not being thoughtful and/or intelligent, than it does with the reality that I’d need another month or so to learn their music well enough to properly comment on what they’re trying to tell the world. They definitely come from the “punk” tradition – a genre labeling almost as useful as “rock” at this point - their lyrics are political, they talk collective action, but, from what I gather, more from a “state of the world/existential” point of view than specific advocacy. They’re not given to grand declarations, at least not in interviews, so that aspect is contained entirely in their music, which’ll take more time to tease out than I’ve given myself for this, and I hate getting over my damn skis, so I’ll leave it there. In some fundamental way, they seem like any other four guys going to a job one day after the other, only they go to a much better job.
Parquet Courts is a four-piece, arranged like so:
“Led by two Texas transplants — Austin Brown, 27, and Andrew Savage, 26 — Parquet Courts’ is rounded out by bassist Sean Yeaton and Savage’s younger brother, Max.”
Parquet Courts first piqued my interest with “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience” a lively punk number kissed with ska/dub rhythms. That grew into a fixation when the jaunty “Tenderness” rolled around (sorry about the "fan-cam" quality on that video). Both came from the band’s 2018 release Wide Awake!, which didn’t mean anything to me at the time, but does now.
A Little History
“The songs are told from a first-person perspective about experiences we’ve had, what someone feels like when fighting a square job from 9-5, and finding beauty and meaning in the world. It’s really important to all of us, and a lot of people can relate to that.”
I’m about to struggle to write much of interest about the (mostly) New-York-by-way-of Texas Parquet Courts. That has less to do with them not being thoughtful and/or intelligent, than it does with the reality that I’d need another month or so to learn their music well enough to properly comment on what they’re trying to tell the world. They definitely come from the “punk” tradition – a genre labeling almost as useful as “rock” at this point - their lyrics are political, they talk collective action, but, from what I gather, more from a “state of the world/existential” point of view than specific advocacy. They’re not given to grand declarations, at least not in interviews, so that aspect is contained entirely in their music, which’ll take more time to tease out than I’ve given myself for this, and I hate getting over my damn skis, so I’ll leave it there. In some fundamental way, they seem like any other four guys going to a job one day after the other, only they go to a much better job.
Parquet Courts is a four-piece, arranged like so:
“Led by two Texas transplants — Austin Brown, 27, and Andrew Savage, 26 — Parquet Courts’ is rounded out by bassist Sean Yeaton and Savage’s younger brother, Max.”
To fill in the blanks, Max Savage hits the drums (and looks distractingly like Andrew), while both Brown and Andrew Savage manage guitar and vocals and, near as I can tell, do all the songwriting. Based on what I’ve seen A. Savage “leads” the band – i.e., who does all the talking in this 2018 Face Culture interview (Part 1) – but don’t lead singers always do that(?), but I also didn’t catch too many instances of Brown taking a full musical lead outside of “Mardi Gras Beads” (the post-chorus guitar is fantastic; also, about the strike-through, it turns out Brown sings on several of my favorite tracks on Wide Awake!). Still, no one in the band looked or sounded sad or thwarted in any interview I’ve seen, and they’ve been at it as Parquet Courts since 2011, so, till further notice, they look like band who knows what works and feels comfortable doing it. Boring as hell, basically. (In other words, what’s my hook, dammit!)
Honestly, all I can think to say about Parquet Courts at this point is that, 1) they’ve been around since 2011, they put out their first full album/combined with an EP in 2013 with Light Up Gold + Tally All the Things You Broke (great title); 2) they deliver the quality, and I like almost all of it and love some of it; and 3) I need more time, because everything I’ve heard from them grows on me over time.
For those interested in further education/arriving at his/her own conclusions, I can pass on a couple interviews. A 2014 Nardwuar interview (an experience of its own) shows that A. Savage knows his ‘zines/history, and, while Brown holds his cards closer to his chest, it’s possible he knows even more. It’s also fun to contrast the band’s demeanor in a 2018 interview at the 2018 Fuji Rock Festival, where the members show a little more personality and a lot more snark, with the Face Culture interview linked to above. Finally, I lifted the quote up top from a 2013 interview in Consequences of Sound, which reminded that the “no way, you’re in a band too” network still holds up and still helps bands tour across the country and generally find their feet. In fewer words, I understand that Parquet Courts appeals to me, because these kinds of bands have always appealed to me…
…it also gets at why I find them so utterly (boringly) normal. I find Parquet Courts’ music endlessly interesting, while finding the members of the band not interesting at all. Because they come from the same scene I’ve followed at varying distances since 1990, they feel familiar, even normal. It’s not like I want them to collapse into an all-members fist-fight, or break up spectacularly, or form a cult, or any of the things that your funner, larger-than-life bands do, but, again, I’d appreciate the hook. Parquet Courts are like a lot of artists in the end, in that the most interesting thing about them is their art.
Fun Details 'n' Curiosities
- “We’re definitely looking to fill that Cheap Trick kind of niche for the Japanese. Cheap Trick, called the American Beatles. I think we’re going to be the American…Bush.”
They do have a sense of humor and/or history. That’s from the Fuji Rock interview, where the interviewer all but invited condescension.
- “’Borrowed Time’ is about writer’s block and not being able write anything. It’s funny because it was a song inspired by writer’s block, so I wrote it about writer’s block.”
I find that concept/approach eminently relatable.
Last Words After a Week of ‘Em
First of all, Wide Awake! both is and is not representative of Parquet Courts’ general approach. If anything, their approach to bass and guitar lends them a “sound,” and they tune both to the twangy, cleaner side – i.e., they’re not massive on distortion/effects, but not averse to them. Even so, they’re slick as shit at switching up the tone – e.g., play “Vienna II” (Austin Brown lead!) “Dear Ramona,” and “Wide Awake” back to back to back. Tempo also plays a big role in mixing it up – e.g., the straight-punk throttle of “Sunbathing Animal” the meandering “Instant Disassembly” – but I find it hard to get bored when I listen to them. To get back to Wide Awake! – my personal favorite, for what it’s worth and the album I’d call their musical apex – I transcribed a couple notes from that Face Culture interview, starting with this one: “how do we do something that is simultaneously very Parquet Courts, but also very different from the last thing that we did.” Or, to lend that thought some really helpful specificity:
“I was probably cognizant to make something that was maybe a little bit more rhythm-forward and less…you know, Human Performance was a very melody-driven record, and I think Wide Awake is a very rhythmic record, you know, very drums and bass forward.”
Because I’d already keyed on the fairly obvious tonal differences between Human Performance (2016) and Wide Awake!, the thought “that’ll save me some strained metaphors” came to mind the second I heard it. The other album I spent (not nearly enough) time on the past couple weeks was 2014’s Sunbathing Animal, and that makes a decent case to see Human Performance as the comparative outlier. When I kicked songs from that album to the sampler I’ll post to Spotify/twitter (and the biweekly playlist), they came from its calmer, brighter tracks – e.g., “Captive of the Sun,” the title track, and “Steady on My Mind.” They got “wacky” with “Two Dead Cops” and one of their bigger, better stretches on the guitar sound, “Berlin Got Blurry.”
The guitar on Sunbathing Animal is a lot sharper and, on certain tracks, jerkier - “Vienna II” and “Always Back in Town” – while “Black and White” shows the same tendency, but with a touch of echo on the guitar line. Overall, it’s a rawer album and, if you want to dime-store psychologize it, it comes from a less confident phase of the band’s career. Which brings me back to Wide Awake!
They’re incorporating new instruments into their sound – e.g., organs and piano, atmospheric pieces, see tracks like “Violence” (uh, no video), “Back to Earth” (Austin Brown lead!) and my latest fling, the in-key-of-epic “Freebird II” – and the above-mentioned “Wide Awake” sounds like something from another band, maybe even something that happens naturally when you’re “listening to a lot of dub, disco and punk,” as they self-reported doing. I think that leaves only “Death Will Bring Change,” which sounds contrary to a lot of what they do, up to and including incorporating a children’s choir (you can hear a dad losing his shit at the start of the performance in that video; solid). It’s one hell of an album, the kind that gets you get geeked up for what Parquet Courts do next.
I can recommend all three of those albums, really, and they just keep growing on me every time I listen to them. I’ll close out with a link to about 45 minutes’ worth of concert material, which, full disclosure, I haven’t sat through, but it’s possible they played Wide Awake! in order. In the best of all possible worlds, I’ll get to see Parquet Courts one of these days – and, gods willing, in a small enough venue (otherwise I won’t go).
For those interested in further education/arriving at his/her own conclusions, I can pass on a couple interviews. A 2014 Nardwuar interview (an experience of its own) shows that A. Savage knows his ‘zines/history, and, while Brown holds his cards closer to his chest, it’s possible he knows even more. It’s also fun to contrast the band’s demeanor in a 2018 interview at the 2018 Fuji Rock Festival, where the members show a little more personality and a lot more snark, with the Face Culture interview linked to above. Finally, I lifted the quote up top from a 2013 interview in Consequences of Sound, which reminded that the “no way, you’re in a band too” network still holds up and still helps bands tour across the country and generally find their feet. In fewer words, I understand that Parquet Courts appeals to me, because these kinds of bands have always appealed to me…
…it also gets at why I find them so utterly (boringly) normal. I find Parquet Courts’ music endlessly interesting, while finding the members of the band not interesting at all. Because they come from the same scene I’ve followed at varying distances since 1990, they feel familiar, even normal. It’s not like I want them to collapse into an all-members fist-fight, or break up spectacularly, or form a cult, or any of the things that your funner, larger-than-life bands do, but, again, I’d appreciate the hook. Parquet Courts are like a lot of artists in the end, in that the most interesting thing about them is their art.
Fun Details 'n' Curiosities
- “We’re definitely looking to fill that Cheap Trick kind of niche for the Japanese. Cheap Trick, called the American Beatles. I think we’re going to be the American…Bush.”
They do have a sense of humor and/or history. That’s from the Fuji Rock interview, where the interviewer all but invited condescension.
- “’Borrowed Time’ is about writer’s block and not being able write anything. It’s funny because it was a song inspired by writer’s block, so I wrote it about writer’s block.”
I find that concept/approach eminently relatable.
Last Words After a Week of ‘Em
First of all, Wide Awake! both is and is not representative of Parquet Courts’ general approach. If anything, their approach to bass and guitar lends them a “sound,” and they tune both to the twangy, cleaner side – i.e., they’re not massive on distortion/effects, but not averse to them. Even so, they’re slick as shit at switching up the tone – e.g., play “Vienna II” (Austin Brown lead!) “Dear Ramona,” and “Wide Awake” back to back to back. Tempo also plays a big role in mixing it up – e.g., the straight-punk throttle of “Sunbathing Animal” the meandering “Instant Disassembly” – but I find it hard to get bored when I listen to them. To get back to Wide Awake! – my personal favorite, for what it’s worth and the album I’d call their musical apex – I transcribed a couple notes from that Face Culture interview, starting with this one: “how do we do something that is simultaneously very Parquet Courts, but also very different from the last thing that we did.” Or, to lend that thought some really helpful specificity:
“I was probably cognizant to make something that was maybe a little bit more rhythm-forward and less…you know, Human Performance was a very melody-driven record, and I think Wide Awake is a very rhythmic record, you know, very drums and bass forward.”
Because I’d already keyed on the fairly obvious tonal differences between Human Performance (2016) and Wide Awake!, the thought “that’ll save me some strained metaphors” came to mind the second I heard it. The other album I spent (not nearly enough) time on the past couple weeks was 2014’s Sunbathing Animal, and that makes a decent case to see Human Performance as the comparative outlier. When I kicked songs from that album to the sampler I’ll post to Spotify/twitter (and the biweekly playlist), they came from its calmer, brighter tracks – e.g., “Captive of the Sun,” the title track, and “Steady on My Mind.” They got “wacky” with “Two Dead Cops” and one of their bigger, better stretches on the guitar sound, “Berlin Got Blurry.”
The guitar on Sunbathing Animal is a lot sharper and, on certain tracks, jerkier - “Vienna II” and “Always Back in Town” – while “Black and White” shows the same tendency, but with a touch of echo on the guitar line. Overall, it’s a rawer album and, if you want to dime-store psychologize it, it comes from a less confident phase of the band’s career. Which brings me back to Wide Awake!
They’re incorporating new instruments into their sound – e.g., organs and piano, atmospheric pieces, see tracks like “Violence” (uh, no video), “Back to Earth” (Austin Brown lead!) and my latest fling, the in-key-of-epic “Freebird II” – and the above-mentioned “Wide Awake” sounds like something from another band, maybe even something that happens naturally when you’re “listening to a lot of dub, disco and punk,” as they self-reported doing. I think that leaves only “Death Will Bring Change,” which sounds contrary to a lot of what they do, up to and including incorporating a children’s choir (you can hear a dad losing his shit at the start of the performance in that video; solid). It’s one hell of an album, the kind that gets you get geeked up for what Parquet Courts do next.
I can recommend all three of those albums, really, and they just keep growing on me every time I listen to them. I’ll close out with a link to about 45 minutes’ worth of concert material, which, full disclosure, I haven’t sat through, but it’s possible they played Wide Awake! in order. In the best of all possible worlds, I’ll get to see Parquet Courts one of these days – and, gods willing, in a small enough venue (otherwise I won’t go).
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