Parquet Courts 'Human Performance' review

Image: Parquet Courts 

Since their arrival onto the scene in 2013 with Light Up Gold, there have been no illusions as to what Parquet Courts are all about: they love getting high, they love eating and god they love to keep it lo-fi.

This resulted in their earlier efforts being somewhat unhinged, all manic guitars and drawling aplenty. 2016’s Human Performance is almost more of the same from the New York four piece.

While their waywardness is part of the appeal, this album seems to be less pacey and more poetic and opening track 'Dust' is a prime example of this.

There’s an almost robotic feel to the track down to its monotonic guitars and repetitive vocals that paint a blurred picture of New York. By the time the track’s rising tones subside into the sound of car horns, the imagery is suitably achieved.

The subsequent title track is a dreamy and wordy affair. The lyrics “ashtray is crowded/bottle is empty/no music plays and nothing moves without drifting/ into a memory” begin the second verse and are an insight into the hazy mind of singer Andrew Savage, whos claustrophobic paranoia is a theme throughout.

This is most apparent in 'Captive Of The Sun', where the 30 year old proclaims that he is “a pastime streamer, hanging from the rafters, I don’t get out, I don’t have fun”.

This pent up energy is let loose later on 'Two Dead Cops', the record’s most bone rattling number. Truthfully, it’s a shame that there aren't more songs like this one, as the album seems somewhat sedated on the whole.

Six and a half minute epic 'One Man No City' is one of the album’s highlights. With more than a subtle nod to Talking Heads, it is harmless enough to begin with before intertwining guitar melodies lead the track into a tangled, eastern infused outro.

'Berlin Got Blurry' (listen below) is typical of a band who absolutely embody stoner slacker music. The verses are bursting with Savage’s lazily enunciated wordplay and simplistic fret work whilst the chorus comes with little fanfare.

The same goes for 'Pathos Prairie', which is a short stream of consciousness set to an inoffensive backing track. The menacing 'I Was Just Here' seems somewhat repetitive and unnecessary but the light and shade of 'Paraphrased' is an instant recovery, although it’s by no means as accessible as some of the other tracks on this record.

Likewise closing number 'It’s Gonna Happen' is a bizarrely idyllic waltz complete with Lou Reed-esque vocals and a swirling breeze. 

By album number four it is clear Parquet Courts have no intention of refining their sound, but then again, why should they?

There are glimmering moments here that shine through the occasional cloudiness of Andrew Savage’s Larkin like lyrics, and they alone are more than enough to make your ears perk up and listen.

Parquet Courts play at Gorilla, Manchester on Saturday 18th June - tickets available via the box below. 

Read our review of Teleman's 'Brilliant Sanity'

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