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Parquet Courts' “Human Performance" is their most compelling album yet

PARQUET

Soren Spicknall
WIIT STATION MANAGE R

There are countlessly many lines that
can be drawn between Parquet Courts and
other festival—heavy acts of the last five years.
The group rose to prominence on the simulta—
neous nostalgic waves of revival surf punk and
60s—style psych, straddling the line between
the nonchalance of groups like Wavves and the
reverb—driven concentration of Cloud Noth—
ings with the added stylistic consciousness of
Temples. Yet despite the ease at which compar—
isons can be made when discussing the group,
Parquet Courts are very clearly a unique entity
that remains compelling for the way they blend
all these disparate facets of the rock genre. On
their newest album, Human Performance, they
craft a set of songs that are at one familiar and
daring, a collection that stands as their stron—
gest to date.

Parquet Courts” most recognizable
track to date, 2012”s “Stoned and Starving,” is
a poor first impression to measure their music
by, though it does serve vaguely as a milepost
for how far they”ve progressed in the last three
and a half years. That song is similar in struc—
ture Black Flag”s “TV Party,” but lacks the clas—
sic hardcore punk piece”s social satire or manic
energy. Instead, as its title suggests, it”s a fairly
lazy stoner punk anthem, lacking dynamic
contrast or any sort of musical shift during its
run. The first piece on this new album, titled
“Dust,” would be easy to dismiss as similarly
simplistic on first blush, but it evolves slowly
into a much more thoughtful composition,
culminating in a crescendo swirl that evokes
Wilco”s more experimental moments, of all

HUM

EQTLY

MANC

things.

The bulk of the album moves deftly
between styles, never jarring the listener with
an out—of—place transition or an outlier track

   

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Image courtesy of Parquet Courts

(with the exception of semi—acoustic closer
“It”s Gonna Happen,” which could have and
probably should have been left off the LP.) Par—
quet Courts” truest talent comes from blending

influences in a completely organic manner, re—
sulting in songs that can”t possibly be pigeon—
holed into any particular subgenre. ‘Human
Performance” moves through Reflektor—esque
psychedelic pop, talk—singing moments remi—
niscent of Cake, and countless other rock mi—
crocosms with absolutely zero sense of inten—
tion, leading the listener to suspect a writing
process that consists primarily of just “feeling
it out.” In the context of today”s independent
music landscape, that works in Parquet Courts”
favor.

There are quite a few low energy mo—
ments on ‘Human Performance,” but they aren”t
so casual that they can”t stand on their own.
The most memorable song of the album won”t
be the relatively calm “Steady On My Mind” for
any fan, but it and other predictably structured
pieces from the LP exhibit some of the band”s
best songwriting to date, and are worth pay—
ing attention to on a close listen. On the other
hand, tracks like “I Was Just Here” and the stel—
lar “One Man No City” (whose three—minute
solo guitar exploration mimes Them”s 1968
milestone “Square Room”) grab your attention
instantly, but their focus is more musical than
literary, and their simplistic lyrics may turn off
fans of Cloud Nothings and other groups that
occupy the same scene. What”s most interest—
ing about the album, though, is that Parquet
Courts have left themselves plenty of room to
grow. While some artists (like Wolfmother,
for example,) bring their best music right at
the start of their careers, Parquet Courts have
proven again that they have more tricks still to
come. 7.3/10

Chicago Flower and Garden Show in full bloom at Navy Pier

 

Photos by Neesha Narayamm