[rating=8.00]
Six albums in eight years defies the conventional laws of supply and demand for most bands. Even the most ardent fans might have a hard time digesting a catalog that would span a most regular band’s career. However, Parquet Courts, is not an average band and their new album, Wide Awake!, is a stark divergence from what is considered their signature, yet slightly hackneyed, sound. Brian Burton, better known as Danger Mouse, serves as a catalyst to change with his production efforts, but it would be a mistake to discount the creative endeavor undertaken by songwriters, A Savage and Austin Brown, who pushed themselves outside of convention for a fresh new sound
Parquet Court’s previous albums can be over-generalized with 2012’s Light Up Gold serving as their introduction to a wide audience and national coverage, 2016’s brilliant Human Performance proving the band’s success generating singles was no fluke, and now 2018’s Wide Awake! has unequivocally shown that Parquet Courts is anything but a one-trick-pony.
The album kicks off with a Mungo Jerry-esque tune, “Tenderness” that immediately announces a pop-focused congeniality lacking on previous albums. The offbeat humor of Parquet Courts first shows up on “Total Football,” with a chorus that just lists off soccer terminology. “Violence” and “Before the Water Gets Too High” have punk streaks running through what are essentially spoken word songs.
For any fan of Parquet Court’s previous work, it is quite clear from the first few songs that Wide Awake! is a sharp turn towards individuality and creativity. “Mardi Gras Beads” has an ironic sentiment that washes over it while the first highlight of the album comes in the form of a two-part staccato, rabble-rousing track “Almost Had to Start A Fight/ In and Out of Patience.”
“Freebird II” has all the ingredients of a great PC song; a subtle yet infectious swinging beat, Alex Savage vocals and his peculiar phonetics, and clever lyrics to stimulate a creative vision. “Normalization” brings funk elements into the chaotic punk landscape for a unique result that would be most fitting in a car-chase movie.
The deeper into Wide Awake! that you listen the more adventurous the band gets with exploring new styles. The title tracks brings Latin percussion and tropical vibes into the mix while “Back to Earth” is a spaced-out melancholic odyssey. The penultimate song “Extinction” may be the most Parquet Courts-esque song on the album as well as the most enjoyable with deft tempo shifts and frenetic guitars.
Parquet Courts have a keen sense of timing, as their sixth album would have lost most of its exuberance and appeal had they stuck to the same old script. Instead, the Texan/New Yorker quartet proved themselves perfectly capable of integrating funk, punk, garage, and even Latin influences into a 13-song experiment of success. This only begs the question, “What comes next?”.
