Parquet Courts
Sunbathing Animal
Whats Your Rupture? (2014)
Four years on in a career that’s seen them work on perfecting the brand of quirky 1990s alt rock of bands like the acclaimed Pavement and not-so-fondly-remembered Harvey Danger, Brooklyn’s Parquet Courts return with 2014’s Sunbathing Animal, an album that may be most surprising for the fact that it’s very nearly the equal of the band’s well-received debut, 2012’s Light Up Gold. I say that this fact is surprising because there’s not been much progress shown from one album to the next: the band is still making self-described (and appropriately labeled) “Americana Punk” which seems to point out, through lead singer and songwriter Andrew Savage’s lyrics, the absurdities of modern living. Since most of the songs here use established, generally familiar formulas, it’s remarkably easy for a listener to become comfortable with the album, but I think in the end, it’s Savage’s unique and sometimes offbeat viewpoints and bits of stoner wisdom that make this album as welcoming and appealing as it is.Even if the end result is worthwhile though, I could easily see how some people might be persuaded to think that what we’re getting with Sunbathing Animal is simply a repeat of what was heard on the group’s … Read more
Ævangelist
Omen Ex Simulacra
Debemur Morti Productions (2013)
Omen Ex Simulacra is a difficult record - one that twists and forms new shapes as it progresses, one that … Read more
Planning For Burial
Desideratum
Flenser (2014)
We all have our dark places and those journeys to and through and from those midnight shores in the bleak … Read more
American Football
American Football (Re-Issue)
Polyvinyl (2014)
Much like the recently-reunited Owls, the unfortunately short-lived American Football was a group formed from the remnants of seminal Midwest-based … Read more
