Parquet Courts
Sunbathing Animals
[Rough Trade]
It seemed for a while there the truly remarkable rock band was a thing of the past. It became a black mark against one’s taste to still exalt guitar music as vital and the only music the masses deemed “interesting” was produced behind a MacBook Pro and a wall of “trippy visuals, man”. Meanwhile each of the great new lo-fi hopes for saving the six-string seemed to be racing one another into their respective belly-buttons. The complete lack of hope of there ever being another guitar band worth getting excited about was one of the things that made Light Up Gold such a breath of fresh air. Thankfully, with their sophomore effort they have pretty much confirmed that they are indeed the best band (I mean proper band with four people and guitar solos and all that good stuff) in the world.
Sunbathing Animal draws on all the things that made their previous product so great: smart alec, endlessly quotable lyrics, intertwining guitar lines that call to mind the golden age of New Jersey slacker rock and a healthy fetishism of the album format as each standalone gem bleeds into one another to make, I dunno, a collection of gems or whatever. This is a great album, not just something you should hear in order to remain part of the broader conversation but a genuinely exciting artistic statement that’s about as important as four dudes being very serious about taking the piss can be.
See also: Fergus & Geronimo – Unlearn; The Feelies – The Good Earth; Pavement – Wowee Zowee
Words: Danny Wilson
Check out our interview with the Parquet Courts boys from last year here.
