Description
Recorded over the course of 2013 and early 2014, Parquet Courts' second album Sunbathing Animal is both more of the same and quite different. It definitely doesn't fall prey to any sort of sophomore slump, and it won't disappoint anyone who fell for Gold's hyperactive, hooky charms.
They take a more serious approach here, a little angry and a little weary at times. It still sounds very Pavement, very Fall, very SST or Homestead at its core, but Parquet Courts sound a little less in thrall to their heroes this time out, and it seems someone in the band did a little research on the blues (shown most obviously on their fiery take on the traditional "Ducking & Dodging," but also in the drunken harmonica that pops up on "She's Rolling").
The slight adjustments to the sound and the attitude aren't a problem, though; the growth the band shows on Animal is impressive and it's good to see both songwriters, Andrew Savage and Austin Brown, try new things and stretch in interesting ways.