Parquet Courts @ The Art School, Glasgow, 28 Aug

New York post-punks Parquet Courts challenge expectations to great effect in Glasgow

Live Review by Alexander Smail | 04 Sep 2017

If any group seems like they’d be a natural fit for the anarchic energy of a Glasgow crowd, it’s Parquet Courts. The Brooklyn quartet have been quietly releasing riotous post-punk since the turn of the decade and, if the release of Human Performance last year is anything to go by, are continuing to reveal and refine their sound. But while the audience at The Art School are ready for – craving – explosive experimental rock, the band challenge and plays with that anticipation at every turn, responding to their (literal) demands for vigour with witty banter and a Beatles cover.

Dust sets the tone for the evening, a hot-and-cold slow burn that finds co-leads A. Savage and Austin Brown blending strumming and crisp synth keys, before the latter effortlessly swaps out for another guitar in the back half and the song reaches a scorching boil. The group dart in and out of volatile punk and quieter moments of rumination – one moment they're outputting raw, blistering energy and the next they’re affably discussing Brown’s recent wedding. It’s very on brand for a group that revels in eroding expectations.

“Play a banger,” someone from the crowd screams at one point in the set, not giving the band a moment to catch their breath in between tracks. As a retort, Brown instead opts to sing a few lines of The Beatles’ Day Tripper to bewildered silence, before the band drifts into one of the more low-key songs in their discography, romantic Sunbathing Animal cut Dear Ramona. “Was that 'bang' enough? Did that 'bang' sufficiently?" Savage asks dryly after, almost as a challenge to the more rowdy members of the audience.

Towards the the end of the set, he tells the restless crowd that the group are headed into the studio to record their sixth album later in the month, before the band dive into a ten-minute-jam session, a wordless cacophony of noise that gives the audience exactly what they crave, if the crowd surfing and quasi-moshing are anything to go by – Savage responds to the former with a deadpan “I’m glad you guys had that male bonding moment”. Parquet Courts know how to set a room on fire, but they’re also unafraid to undercut expectations, comfortable enough with their sound to simply follow wherever it might lead them. If that doesn’t hype you up about hearing new music from these guys, what the fuck will?

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