The prodigious Brooklyn punks in Parquet Courts have kept plenty busy since the release of 2014’s Sunbathing Animal. Later that year, they released the album Content Nausea under the name Parkay Quarts, followed it up with the abrasive Monastic Living EP, and then dropped a live collaborative record with PC Worship under the name PCPC.
Now that it’s been a few weeks since we last heard from them, the band have announced a new official, full-length Parquet Courts record. The album, which is out April 8, is the group’s first with indie stalwart Rough Trade.
Per a press release, Human Performance was apparently recorded during a period of great personal instability. “I began to question my humanity, and if it was always as sincere as I thought, or if it was a performance,” singer Andrew Savage says. “I felt like a sort of malfunctioning apparatus … Like a machine programmed to be human showing signs of defect.”
The group also released a video for the album’s lead single, “Dust.” The track picks up where Content Nausea‘s “Anxiety” (and, for that matter, much of the band’s discography to date) leaves off: examining the stressful conditions of modern life. While it starts with a familiar chug, the song gradually expands into a sheen of noise that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on that PCPC record—it’s a strengthening of the bond between abrasion and pop sensibility that this band has always done well.
You can check out the “Dust” video, along with Human Performance‘s info and a lengthy set of tour dates, below.
Human Performance track list
“Dust”
“Human Performance”
“Outside”
“I Was Just Here”
“Paraphrased”
“Captive Of The Sun”
“Steady On My Mind”
“One Man, No City”
“Berlin Got Blurry”
“Keep It Even”
“Two Dead Cops”
“Pathos Prairie”
pi”It’s Gonna Happen”
Parquet Courts tour dates
February
15 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall w/ Love Of Everything
16 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall w/ Love Of Everything – SOLD OUT
18 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club w/ Love Of Everything
19 – Calgary, AB @ Commonwealth Bar
20 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theater w/ Dumb
23 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
24 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom w/ Woolen Men
26 – Oakland, CA @ The New Parish (Noise Pop) w/ Chris Cohen – SOLD OUT
27 – Los Angeles, CA @ American Legion Hall w/ Chris Cohen – SOLD OUT
28 – Los Angeles, CA @ American Legion Hall
March
12 – Marfa, TX @ Marfa Myths w/ No Age, Emitt Rhodes, Quilt, Sheer Mag
April
14 – Providence, RI @ The Met w/ Soda
15 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club w/ Soda
16 – Kingston, NY @ BSP Kingston w/ Soda
17 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit w/ Soda
18 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups w/ Soda
20 – Chicago, IL @ Metro w/ Soda
21 – Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar w/ Soda
22 – Toronto, Ontario @ Phoenix Theater w/ Soda
28 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
Sat. Apr. 30 – Austin, TX @ Levitation Festival
May
2 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s
11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer w/ B Boys
12 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club w/ B Boys
13 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle w/ B Boys
15 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival
16 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge w/ B Boys
17 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight w/ B Boys
18 – Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theater w/ B Boys
20 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall w/ B Boys
