Parquet Courts is an American rock band from New York City. The band consists of Andrew Savage (vocals, guitar), Austin Brown (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Sean Yeaton (bass, vocals), and Max Savage (drums).
History Band members Andrew Savage and Austin Brown met in Denton, Texas while both students at the University of North Texas, in a student club named Knights of the Round Turntable, where they listened to and shared new records. Andrew had a number of musical projects during college, including Teenage Cool Kids and Fergus & Geronimo. Andrew and brother Max Savage, Parquet Courts' drummer, were both born and raised in Denton. The three relocated to Brooklyn after college and soon started Parquet Courts.
The band released their debut album, American Specialties, as an independent, limited cassette release in 2011. The album was later reissued with Rough Trade Records in 2021.
The band's second studio album, Light Up Gold (2012), was initially released on Savage's Dull Tools label and later reissued on What's Your Rupture? in 2013. Light Up Gold received critical acclaim, and entered the UK Record Store chart.
In 2014, the band reached number 55 on the UK albums chart with its third studio album, Sunbathing Animal.
Later in 2014, the band released "Uncast Shadow of a Southern Myth" as a single under an alternative name, Parkay Quarts. Soon afterward they released their fourth studio album, Content Nausea, on which Sean and Max were absent due to other commitments.
The following year the band released a collaboration LP Ramsgate with PC Worship under the name PCPC. They also released a mostly instrumental, experimental EP, entitled Monastic Living.
On February 4, 2016, the band announced their fifth studio album, entitled Human Performance. The album was released on April 8 through Rough Trade. Co-frontman and the artist of the album's packaging and art, Andrew Savage, received a Grammy Award nomination for his work.
On October 13, 2017, Andrew Savage released his first solo album, Thawing Dawn, through Dull Tools under the stage name A. Savage. That same month the band released Milano, a collaboration album with Daniele Luppi featuring Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer Karen O.
On May 18, 2018, the band released their sixth LP, Wide Awake! It was named "album of the year" by Australian radio station Double J. Their song "Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience" is featured in the video game EA Sports NHL 19, "One Man No City" was featured in an Episode of The Blacklist, and "Wide Awake" appeared as soundtrack in Konami football game eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020.
The band's seventh full-length album, Sympathy for Life, was released on October 22, 2021.
Between February and March 2022, Parquet Courts headlined a North American tour, with Nigerien afro-psychedelic guitarist Mdou Moctar as their opening act. The band played their final show to date in August 2022 at Green Man Festival in Crickhowell. The following year, Savage resumed his solo career with the album Several Songs About Fire. In an interview with Post Trash, he also confirmed that although the band had entered a hiatus, they had not broken up.
It's different being in a band when we're the age we're now, compared to when we started. When we started three of us were 24, and Max was 18. Our twenties were spent touring. I'm 37 now, and I'm probably the one that's most eager to tour. The other guys have wives and children, and children get older and need a bit more attention. We're all artists outside of the band who do other projects, as well. I'm not the only one kind of doing their own thing here. [...] We will definitely do something again. Rest assured.
Musical style Their musical style has been described as indie rock, post-punk, art punk, and garage punk.
Band members Andrew Savage – lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards Austin Brown – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards Sean Yeaton – bass guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals Max Savage – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Discography Albums Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positionsUSAUSPeak positions for albums in Australia: All except noted: For Wide Awake:BEL(FL)BEL(WA)FRAGERNLDSCOPeaks in Scotland: Sunbathing Animal: Human Performance: Wide Awake!: Sympathy for Life: SWIUKAmerican Specialties Released: 2011 Label: Play Pinball!——————————Light Up Gold Released: August 18, 2012 Label: Dull Tools, What's Your Rupture?——————————Sunbathing Animal Released: June 3, 2014 Label: What's Your Rupture?, Rough Trade (UK)55—69181———65—55Content Nausea(as Parkay Quarts) Released: November 28, 2014 Label: What's Your Rupture?——————————Human Performance Released: April 8, 2016 Label: Rough Trade118—84—109——42—50Wide Awake! Released: May 18, 2018 Label: Rough Trade1229342117106—116196427Sympathy for Life Released: October 22, 2021 Label: Rough Trade—2649118160969414—42 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Collaborative albums Title Album detailsMilano(with Daniele Luppi) Released: October 27, 2017 Label: Columbia
Live albums Live at Third Man Records (2015)
EPs Tally All the Things That You Broke (2013) (as Parkay Quarts) number 15 US Heat Monastic Living (2015)
Singles +List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak chart positions Album USAAA BEL(FL) MEX UKPhys. "Picture of Health" 2012 — — — 99 Light Up Gold "Borrowed Time" 2013 — — — — "Black & White" 2014 — — 41 —Sunbathing Animal "Sunbathing Animal" — — — 23 "This is Happening Now" — — — — "Dust" 2016 — — 43 —Human Performance "Human Performance" — — 42 11 "Captive of the Sun" — — — 8 "Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience"2018 — — 37 —Wide Awake! "Wide Awake!" — — 48 10 "Mardi Gras Beads" — — — 9 "Total Football" — — — 2 "Hey Bug" 2020 — — — — "Plant Life"2021 — — — 58Sympathy for Life "Walking at a Downtown Pace" — — — — "Black Widow Spider" — — — — "Homo Sapien" — — — — "Watching Strangers Smile" 2022 33 — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.
Other Ramsgate, PCPC (2015) (collaboration with PC Worship)
Notes
References
External links Official website A. Savage