Dang, them Parquet Courts boys just can’t seem to lie still and go to sleep! After staying hyper-busy in 2017 with their Daniele Luppi collaboration Milano, as well as co-front man Andrew Savage’s debut solo album Thawing Dawn, the fidgety foursome have announced their proper follow-up to 2016’s Human Performance. It’s called Wide Awake!, and it’s out bright and early on May 18 via Rough Trade.
“Strangely” enough, Wide Awake! was produced by Brian Burton, better known to us normies as Danger Mouse. It seems like an incongruous pairing on paper, but for an album that aims to be groovy and dancey (in that way that bands like Black Flag, Gorilla Biscuits, or Youth of Today are groovy and dancey), getting together with Danger Mouse starts to make more sense. According to Savage, “The ethos behind every Parquet Courts record is that there needs to be change for the better, and the best way to tackle that is to step out of one’s comfort zone. I personally liked the fact that I was writing a record that indebted to punk and funk, and Brian’s a pop producer who’s made some very polished records. I liked that it didn’t make sense.”
Results that seem like they make a whole lot of sense can be heard in the first new song off the album, which is actually kinda two songs: “Almost Had to Star a Fight/In and Out of Patience.” You can find the video for that/those track/s, along with album’s full tracklisting – which includes what may be the best or most hack song title ever, “Freebird II” – its artwork, and Parquet Court’s slate of upcoming tour dates, down below.
And hey, did I mention that the band is also rushing off for a giant world tour starting in April? And that Wide Awake! can be pre-ordered here?? It’s true! Act now and get the album bundled with a scarf or t-shirt! Wow, they really should have titled the album Wide Awake (For Dem Deals Deals Deals Baby!).
Wide Awake!
01. Total Football
02. Violence
03. Before the Water Gets Too High
04. Mardi Gras Beads
05. Almost Had to Start a Fight/In And Out of Patience
06. Freebird II
07. Normalization
08. Back to Earth
09. Wide Awake
10. NYC Observation
11. Extinction
12. Death Will Bring Change
13. Tenderness
Parquet Tourts:
04.24.18 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall
04.26.18 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s w/ Ty Segall
04.27.18 – Norman, OK – Norman Music Festival
04.28.18 – Dallas, TX – Sons of Hermann Hall
04.29.18 – Englewood, CO – The Gothic Theatre
05.05.18 – Atlanta, GA – Shaky Knees Festival
05.23.18 – Boston, MA – Royale w/ Goat Girl
05.24.18 – Providence, RI – Fete Ballroom w/ Goat Girl
05.25.18 – Portland, ME – Port City Music Hall w/ Goat Girl
05.26.18 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount w/ Goat Girl
05.27.18 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Theatre w/ Goat Girl
05.28.18 – Detroit, MI – El Club w/ Goat Girl
05.30.18 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre w/ Goat Girl
05.31.18 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line w/ Goat Girl
06.01.18 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada w/ Goat Girl
06.02.18 – St Louis, MO – Ready Room w/ Goat Girl
06.03.18 – Nashville, TN – Basement East w/ Goat Girl
06.05.18– Asheville, NC – Orange Peel w/ Goat Girl
06.06.18 – Carborro, NC – Cat’s Cradle w/ Goat Girl
06.07.18 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club w/ Goat Girl
06.08.18 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer w/ Goat Girl
07.04.18 – Berlin, DE – Festsaal Kreuzberg
07.05.18 – Hamburg, DE – Molotow
07.06.18 – Groningen, NL – Vera
07.08.18 – Hérouville saint Clair, FR – Festival Beauregard Festival
07.12.18 – Bilbao, ES – Bilbao BBK Festival
07.14.18 – Beccles, UK – Latitude Festival
07.15.18 – Kortrijk, BE – De Kreun
07.17.18 – Duedingen, CH – Bad Bonn