This is the album I've been waiting for since Surfer Blood released their debut album - Astro Coast in 2010. Light Up Gold is an enormous breath of fresh air in today's music landscape and an early contender for my favorite musical discovery of the year. I admit I'm a little late hearing about these guys and sadly missed their recent show in Chicago, but after hearing this album for the 20th time I can say I'm a fan for life. The buzz behind Parquet Courts has been well deserved and is spreading rapidly with recent reviews in both Rolling Stone and Spin magazine.
To give you some background on these wide-eyed, late-twenty something guys; they started out of the Denton, TX punk scene. While there, vocalist and guitarist Andrew Savage played in the somewhat well known indie groups - Fergus and Geronimo, and Teenage Cool Kids. Eventually they migrated to New York City, where they currently go to school, and work normal jobs. Andrew Savage formed the band with his brother Max Savage on drums, Sean Yeaton on bass, and Austin Brown on guitar and vocals. Shortly after forming in 2011, they recorded and released their debut album - American Specialties on cassette. In August of last year Light Up Gold was released as a limited edition vinyl pressing of 500 copies. The album was then re-released in January on the What's Your Rupture label.
Light Up Gold is more of a full band effort than American Specialties. And even though the album was recorded in their New York City practice space in a quick 3 days and 30 hours, it sounds anything but lo-fi. Musically their sound is familiar but you can never quite put your finger on who their main influences are. Scrounging through my music collection; I noticed some similarities with late 70's early 80's post-punk bands like The Fall, The Modern Lovers, The Talking Heads, and Wire. But they're not close enough to any of these bands to be considered a copycat act. Part of what makes these tunes so addictive is they never hang around in one place too long. Most of the tracks stay under 2 minutes and when they do go longer (as in the 5 minute "Stoned and Starving"), the songs jam along like a rickety old roller coaster ride in a cloud of pot smoke.
On the surface the lyrics sound tossed off and goofy (in a good way). But when you dig deeper, these guys can really write some excellent lyrics full of humor and traces of classic beat poetry. On one of the many highlights - "Stoned and Starving", he sings "I was debating Swedish Fish/Roasted Peanuts or licorice/I was so stoned and starving". Even more impressive might be the delivery of the songs. There's a confident swagger in the singing of both Andrew Savage and Austin Brown. They know just how to say things at the exact moment to get your attention and pull you into a song. On the killer opening track - "Master of My Craft", the song is sung from the perspective of a know-it-all big shot talking to someone below him. He pulls out the refrain of "A Moment of Your Time?/Forget About It", pronouncing "Fuh-get-about it" in a thick Brooklyn accent. It's too great not to love! Even the name - Parquet Courts shits coolness (Immediately giving me flashbacks of Larry Bird, The Celtics, and The Boston Garden).
Light Up Gold is an album for the ages that I will pass down to my children, and my children will pass down to their children and so on. I could spend a couple more paragraphs talking about other highlights but it's better if you listen for yourself. (see link at the bottom). The band is already performing songs for a follow-up album which is planned for release on the What's Your Rupture label. They'll likely be touring a lot this year, so make sure to catch their live show when they come to your town!
out of 5Bandcamp link
http://dulltools.bandcamp.com/album/light-up-gold
No comments:
Post a Comment