Parquet Courts - Sympathy For Life

Over the course of their ten-year, six album career, Parquet Courts have largely been purveyors of New York garage/indie/punk/art/dance (delete as appropriate) rock, to varying levels of acclaim.

As other staples of those genres have found, the boundaries can only be pushed so far before a complete divergence away. In addition, their last album – 2018’s Wide Awake – saw them achieve a level of acclaim and respect which had been well-earned and therefore foolish to sacrifice.

But trotting out the same thing album after album is surely as boring for the artist as it is for the listener (unless you’re an Adele/Ed Sheeran/Coldplay fan of course), so on Sympathy For Life, Parquet Courts have opted to showcase their ‘dancier’ aspects. Co-frontman Austin Brown confirmed as much recently: ‘The clubs are open again. It’s time to get back to dancing.’

Kudos for developing their sound, and indeed there are many new sounds and vibes contained within Sympathy For Life, but the problem is that it isn’t very…danceable. It’s a curious album that doesn’t quite know on which side of the fence it sits, with the sequencing reflecting that. Often a more experimental track (i.e. one driven by electronica rather than guitars) is followed by something much more recognisable.

https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2021/10/review-parquet-courts-sympathy-life/