Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold LP

Description

**New Repress!

Passionate slackers Parquet Courtsare from the same crew of Texas-to-Brooklyn transplants responsible for theZappa-esquegenre-bending conceptual weirdness ofFergus & Geronimoas well as the more straightforward basement pop-punk ofTeenage Cool Kids. Songwriter Andrew Savage is clearly a prolific and multifaceted character, but withParquet Courts, he taps into a focus and sense of mood cultivation missing in some of his other projects. Savage and fellow songwriterAustin Brownpresent a series of observational freeze-frames on debut albumLight Up Gold, zeroing in on banal scenes, everyday events, and listless pondering during drifting times. Musically,Parquet Courtsdraw on some influences not commonly paired, but to great effect. Motoric indie rockers like “Borrowed Thyme” and “Stoned & Starving” call to mind the wandering rock ofthe Feeliesor the inward-looking side of the first phase ofthe Modern Lovers. Contemporaries likeTyvekcan be heard on the shouty poetry of tracks like “Donuts Only” and “Yonder Is Closer to the Heart,” while the shadow of ’90s staple artists likePavementandSonic Youthcolors the entire album. All these disparate influences don’t show up in a way that feels jarring or derivative, which is perhaps the great strength ofLight Up Gold. The album manages to sound like it’s learning from its influences rather than stealing directly. Much likePavement‘s “Two States” managed to blatantly apethe Falland somehow still get a pass on its own merits, “Careers in Combat” apesPavementapingthe Fallin the most original way possible, and sounds great in the process. The patchwork of reference points becomes more about the way the band wears them than anything, andParquet Courts‘ approach to both melody and always-mutating guitar tones silently elevates them from being mere reflections of their record collections. While still early into the group’s existence, the bandmembers dubbed their sound “Americana punk,” possibly referring to the open landscapes of their Texan beginnings clashing with their present urban surroundings and the unique sonic results of that juxtaposition. Much more on the mark is a line from an early bio comparing the feel of the band to elements ofSonic Youth,Bob Dylan, and other acts not originally from the big city, but ultimately just as important a part of its musical landscape.Light Up Goldcaptures some of the excitement and perspective on city life that only transplants could feel, and filters it through a haze of laid-back ’90s alt-rock influence. The album is sometimes languid, often jittery and beaming, but mostly an almost subconsciously storytelling collection of moments that would be boring and forgettable if they weren’t captured in songs so accidentally perfect. -All Music Guide