Interview: Parquet Courts

Even when Parquet Courts emerged as the latest marketable pack of handsome New York guitar boys, there appeared to the most casual listener an underlying disquiet. Maybe not within the 'Stoned And Starving' hooky catalogue of the mundane, but next to the sarcastic dread of 'Careers In Combat' it was obvious that no message came without urgency. Their very first title track 'American Specialties' made the pitch: "Music matters more than ever / Free your brain and conform never." Through simple statements, they encourage a radical mindset through familiar sounds, and not the other, easier, way round. Basically what you'd call a punk band. But instead they got slapped the term 'slackers' (58 times, at their count) for no reason other than that people were getting paid to make them easier to sell.

That was from around the time of Light Up Gold, an album whose success led them to festivals like NZ's Laneway last January. Having forced themselves to travel blind corners since then - as many as three releases, distinct in sound and even spelling - has helped remove any and all instant simplifications, not least those of easy-road music 'writers' looking for an adjective. Clearly we're talking about music with an ideology, and this we all know to be a thing that can't be pulled off without first knowing one's shit. Since nobody can tolerate a phoney, UnderTheRadar quizzed Parquet Court's Andrew Savage on the beliefs behind their attitude, right down to Russian classical music, diehard blowhards, and punk...

Click here to read the interview, and watch the recent video for 'Pretty Machines' below...

Parquet Courts kick off a four-date New Zealand tour next Monday 9th March at Kings Arms in Auckland, head over here for full dates, details and tickets to all shows (get in quick!!).