Parquet Courts
“Tally All The Things That You Broke” EP Review
Released October 8th, 2013
What’s Your Rupture?
Genre: Post-Punk, Indie Rock, Punk Rock
So, there’s this band that the blogosphere likes, and I’ve never taken the time to listen to them. It’s not that they never interested me, It just kind happened (or didn’t happen, in this case). Isn’t that odd? Well, it’s kind of funny, kind of like the aforementioned band’s backstory. A bunch of Texans met in New York and made a quirky post-punk band called Parquet Courts. I decided to finally check them out for myself.
Right off the bat, with the bright and quickly strummed guitar chords, I knew this would be kinda cool. This band wastes no time showcasing their personality and quirk with the opener “You’ve Got Me Wonderin’ Now,” which harkens back to 70’s and 80’s punk and post-punk, bringing a LOT of energy and fun into the mix. The vocals do the song justice by complimenting a very catchy recorder riff during the chorus; be warned. You’re going to be nodding uncontrollably to the beat of this one. There’s noisy production, but the song is so much fun that the lo-fi quality works well. The ending is just as boisterous as the beginning, with all the instruments singing out with great flair. I had high expectations after this one. The energy doesn’t stop there, with the well-written track “Descend (The Way),” with twangy and jangly guitar riffs swirling around this sonic hurricane. Before the outro, the band plays a magic trick where they make all the instruments quiet down one after another, foreshadowing a fade-out outro, but quickly bring them all back in full-volume for the ending.
But then the song “The More It Works” starts playing, and this song from the beginning is just irritating. It’s like that kid you know that tells the same joke that he KNOWS isn’t funny, but never relents. The vexing vocals proceed for most of the song, but the instruments never throw anything interesting at me. I can’t even describe anything remarkable about this track.
The final two tracks are good, though, with the same fun qualities, and “He’s Seeing Paths” ventures into sounds that Beck (the singer-songwriter) might experiment with. It’s also very funny, with references to topics like Urban Dictionary. It’s a good track, though, and this EP is a worthwhile, albeit short, experience.
Pretty Neat Music
Fav Tracks: You’ve Got Me Wonderin’ Now, Descend (The Way), He’s Seeing Paths
Least Fav: The More It Works
Score: (8.4/10)
