Looking for a new album to get sluggishly stoned to? If so, then Sunbathing Animal, the new album from Brooklyn punk rockers Parquet Courts, is for you.
Whilst 2013’s Light Up Gold featured a bunch of short, sharp, and not-so-shiny tracks packed full of wit, indelible melodies, and an inimitable lackadaisical feel, Sunbathing Animal sees this foursome slightly tweak their punk-rock formula.
Their wry wit has been replaced with a sense of hopelessness, while their taut, infectious songwriting has been traded in for a more fleshed-out, hardcore aesthetic.
In spite of this musical progression, this album still possesses that classic slacker vibe that helped make Light Up Gold so enjoyable. From the whirring guitars of ‘Bodies Made Of’ to the sobering softness of ‘Dear Ramona’ right through to the interminable ‘Instant Disassembly’, there’s a sense of ease inbuilt in these songs that allows Sunbathing Animal to work its way into your mind without ever demanding your attention.
Even when they do choose to pick up the pace on tracks like the ferocious lead single ‘Sunbathing Animal’ and the Fratellis-esque ‘Ducking & Dodging’, this urgency always takes a backseat to their natural languidness.
Exploding with squalid solos, a relentless four-to-the-floor beat and blind ambition, ‘Sunbathing Animal’ stands as one of the best on the record. Not necessarily because it pushes the boundaries of hardcore music, but because it manages to sound simultaneously unstoppable and completely exhausted. In other words, it’s the perfect aural companion to a stoned mind.
Listen to ‘Sunbathing Animal’ from Sunbathing Animal here:
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