Grade: 88/100
In a world filled with dozens and dozens of genres, sub genres and varying scenes, there are few things still exciting and worth listening to in today’s music. One band that still keeps fans fascinated and enamored with its music is Parquet Courts.
In just four years, these scrappy young punks from New York City have made a name for themselves. More specifically, two names. In line with its zany style, Parquet Courts’ newest release “Content Nausea” was issued with the band going by the humorously contorted moniker “Parkay Quarts.”
This name change comes with the new album, the band’s fourth full-length release and second of 2014. This rapidfire issuing of content has put Parquet Courts at the top of “Artists to Watch” lists over the last four months.
Following June’s hit release “Sunbathing Animal,” “Content Nausea” gives listeners more of the same erratic punk rock that Parquet Courts’ fans are familiar with. Though riding on the heels of “Sunbathing Animal,” this album shows a group of artists full of tenacity and dynamic enthusiasm.
The album opens, appropriately, with a track titled “Everyday It Starts.” This lilting, monotonous song warms the listener up to singers Andrew Savage and Austin Brown’s recognizable droning singing style. Though not usually a part of punk music, this murmuring pairs well with the band’s guitar playing, which is highly reminiscent of krautrock.
Scattered throughout “Content Nausea” are small, seemingly unimportant songs clocking in at around a minute each. If heard separately, “Kevlar Walls,” “Insufferable” and “No Concept” come off like throwaway recordings the band wished to use as filler. However, when the album is played in its entirety, these three songs act as strong bridges among the other lyric-heavy content.
“Pretty Machines,” the album’s centerpiece, is the one song that sounds the least like all other Parquet Courts’ songs, but stays my favorite song on “Content Nausea.”
Numerous influences are immediately heard, the most obvious of which is the chunky, garage rock guitar like Kings of Leon in its early years. The songs’ chorus sections come off as a punk’s cover of Joe Cocker’s famous 1970 cover of “The Letter,” originally performed by The Box Tops.
Probably the most unusual feature of “Content Nausea” is the band’s version of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.” The cover is nothing spectacular. With Sinatra’s sass replaced by nonchalant muttering, “Boots” slowly builds to a head until Parquet Courts can no longer contain its feedback and fuzz. When the singers reach the famous “start walkin’” portion of the song, all hell breaks loose and the band’s members release all of their angst. Angst that was mostly likely caused by a want to dismantle the admittedly cheesy 1966 pop hit.
“Content Nausea” acts as a decent addition to Parquet Courts’ growing portfolio of interesting punk music. Fans can only hope for more development in the band’s writing to combine with exciting new sounds and instrumentation.