Parquet Courts

Parquet Courts fused abrasive punk textures with wry, occasionally weighty lyrics intoned in a flat, ominous register, gaining traction among indie circles via their 2012 album Light Up Gold. After extensive roadwork and a run of literate, ragged releases on What’s Yr Rupture? and Rough Trade, the group solidified its status as a defining act of its generation. As the 2010s progressed, the quartet expanded beyond its established approach by teaming with rapper Bun B for a 2016 single, joining Italian producer Daniele Luppi for the 2017 set Milano, and embracing dance-punk and new-wave elements on the Danger Mouse–helmed Wide Awake! of 2018 and its 2021 successor, Sympathy for Life.

The Brooklyn-via-Texas outfit formed in 2010 when ex-Fergus & Geronimo member Andrew Savage joined guitarist/vocalist Austin Brown, bassist Sean Yeaton, and drummer Max Savage. Early activity centered on frequent New York-area shows, followed by the cassette-only debut American Specialties in late 2011, with a vinyl edition arriving the next year. A broader release, Light Up Gold, appeared on Dull Tools in summer 2012 and prompted the band’s first national tour by year’s end. Strong press response, nonstop touring, and inherent likability quickly elevated the album, prompting its early-2013 reissue on Brooklyn’s What’s Yr Rupture? label for wider reach.

Between tours the members tracked material for a follow-up; a five-song EP, Tally All the Things That You Broke, surfaced in late 2013. Their third full-length, Sunbathing Animal, emerged on What’s Yr Rupture? in June 2014, after which the group issued another batch of loose recordings as Parkay Quarts with the November album Content Nausea. March 2015 brought the first live document, Live at Third Man Records, while split 7-inches with Big Ups on Roky Records and Joey Pizza Slice on Wharf Cat Records arrived that summer. Rough Trade then issued the largely instrumental, experimental Monastic Living EP in November.

Work on the subsequent album marked the first time all four members contributed songwriting. Sessions took place at Sonelab in western Massachusetts, Wilco’s Loft in Chicago, and primarily at Dreamland Studio in upstate New York—the same room where the B-52’s captured “Love Shack.” Daytime writing gave way to nighttime tracking, yielding the early-2016 release Human Performance, an inward and somewhat somber collection still animated by jittery punk energy.

February 2017 saw the limited 12-inch “Captive of the Sun,” featuring rapper Bun B of UGK alongside producers DJ Candlestick and O.G. Ron C. Later that year the band appeared on Milano, a Daniele Luppi collaboration that also included guest vocals from Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Recording for the next album followed in New York and Texas under Danger Mouse, with Andrew Savage and Austin Brown drawing from an expanded palette that incorporated dance-punk, the Specials, folky indie pop, and classic rock. The resulting breadth and Danger Mouse’s production touch made 2018’s Wide Awake! the group’s most varied and approachable statement to date. Exploration of funk continued in more cerebral fashion on the 2021 album Sympathy for Life. Assembled from improvised jams and polished with Hot Chip producer Rodaidh McDonald, the record incorporated dub and ambient textures while echoing the more abstract dancefloor experiments of Bowie, Primal Scream, and the Talking Heads.