{"id":4619,"date":"2016-04-12T13:42:40","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T17:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=4619"},"modified":"2016-04-25T13:12:24","modified_gmt":"2016-04-25T17:12:24","slug":"parquet-courts-human-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/parquet-courts-human-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Parquet Courts <br>Human Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/parquet_courts-human_performance.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4621\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-4621\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/parquet_courts-human_performance.jpg\" alt=\"Parquet Courts, Human Performance\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/parquet_courts-human_performance.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/parquet_courts-human_performance-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>Anxiety is such a crucial component of Parquet Courts\u2019 work. They frequently rail against\u2014or are disillusioned with\u2014the outside world. This feeling reached its peak on their last full-length (released under the moniker of Parkay Quarts), <i>Content Nausea<\/i>, which saw the band target two major topics: the inundation of content in the smartphone age and the struggles of urban living. The latter is always a topical subject for any band trying to survive in New York, but Parquet Courts impart a different version of the \u201cus against them\u201d narrative. The opposition isn\u2019t always any one person or entity, but perhaps human nature or habit.<\/p>\n<p>Thematically, Parquet Courts\u2019 newest, <i>Human Performance<\/i> (Rough Trade Records), makes huge strides. As opposed to reporting moments of societal distress and anxiety, this album has personal, emotional moments. Best case-in-point, the title track is Parquet Courts\u2019 first about heartbreak\u2014or perhaps the first they\u2019ve written that\u2019s this devastating. Singer\/guitarist Andrew Savage sings like he\u2019s holding a blank expression, \u201cAshtray is crowded, bottle is empty, no music plays, and nothing moves without drifting into a memory.\u201d It&#8217;s a vibe not unlike that of Protomartyr\u2019s \u201cCowards Starve,\u201d and the band exhibits a newfound finesse in making a song that\u2019s cathartic on an individual level.<\/p>\n<p><i>Human Performance<\/i> also stands alone in the Parquet Courts\u2019 repertoire for the balance it strikes between the band\u2019s established sound and one that\u2019s fluid. One can still hear their prescriptive barking, jagged guitar, and swift tempos on roughly half the record, particularly \u201cI Was Just Here,\u201d \u201cAlready Dead,\u201d and \u201cDust.\u201d Though those songs are strong, they\u2019re not unexpected. The other half has a nebulous atmosphere, as on \u201cOutside,\u201d \u201cBerlin Got Blurry,\u201d which actually has a chorus, and the Velvet Underground\u2013leaning \u201cSteady on My Mind.\u201d Parquet Courts have seemingly found a way to release the tension of their previous records, and Savage clearly makes a concerted effort to sing more than yelp.<\/p>\n<p><i>Human Performance\u2019s<\/i> effectiveness is a result of Parquet Courts\u2019 integration of approachable emotion into their already sturdy style. (It\u2019s no surprise that every band member contributed songs to this album instead of just Savage.) In a way, this record could be described as their <i>The Agent Intellect<\/i>. Like Protomartyr\u2019s album, <i>Human Performance<\/i> has a relatability that finally lets Parquet Courts\u2019 fans in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anxiety is such a crucial component of Parquet Courts\u2019 work. They frequently rail against\u2014or are disillusioned with\u2014the outside world. This feeling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,41,1681],"class_list":["post-4619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-parquet-courts","tag-rough-trade-records"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Parquet Courts Human Performance - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/parquet-courts-human-performance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parquet Courts Human Performance - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anxiety is such a crucial component of Parquet Courts\u2019 work. 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This feeling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/parquet-courts-human-performance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-12T17:42:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-25T17:12:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/parquet_courts-human_performance.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matthew Lovett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matthew Lovett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/parquet-courts-human-performance\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/parquet-courts-human-performance\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matthew Lovett\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/8c95feed88db5718157f573e906d86e7\"},\"headline\":\"Parquet Courts Human Performance\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-12T17:42:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-25T17:12:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/parquet-courts-human-performance\/\"},\"wordCount\":398,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/parquet-courts-human-performance\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/parquet_courts-human_performance.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Album Review\",\"Parquet Courts\",\"Rough Trade Records\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Album Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/parquet-courts-human-performance\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/parquet-courts-human-performance\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/parquet-courts-human-performance\/\",\"name\":\"Parquet Courts Human Performance - 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