Parquet Courts Announce New Album ‘Wide Awake!’

On February 22, 2018

In News

The wait is over! After dropping clues through your letterboxes in the form of postcards featuring the sleeve art (good work all you eagle eyes who recognised A. Savage’s handywork!) and a clock on wideawake.am ticking down to this very moment, Parquet Courts have announced that they will release their fifth album ‘Wide Awake!’ – produced by Danger Mouse – on 18th May, and will be heading out on a worldwide tour (dates below).

Pre-order ‘Wide Awake!’ here on deluxe vinyl*, standard vinyl, CD and MP3. T-shirts and scarves designed by Parquet Courts are also available exclusively from the Rough Trade Records webstore.

*deluxe vinyl includes a 16-page double booklet of art and illustration by the band’s Grammy-nominated artist A. Savage – available exclusively from the Rough Trade Records webstore and all other indie relatailers.

…and if that wasn’t enough to get you out of bed, get a load of “Almost Had To Start A Fight / In And Out Of Patience” – the first (double shot!) track to be unleashed from the album! Stream/buy “Had To Start A Fight / In And Out Of Patience” here.

On working with producer Danger Mouse, A. Savage explains: “The ethos behind every Parquet Courts record is that there needs to be change for the better, and the best way to tackle that is to step out of one’s comfort zone. I personally liked the fact that I was writing a record that indebted to punk and funk, and Brian’s a pop producer who’s made some very polished records. I liked that it didn’t make sense.”

For both Savage and co-frontman Austin Brown, this record represents the duality of coping and confrontation. “In such a hateful era of culture, we stand in opposition to that — and to the nihilism used to cope with that — with ideas of passion and love,” says Brown. He goes onto say that he found himself “writing songs I’ve been wanting to write but never had the courage” on this record.

‘Wide Awake!’ Tracklisting:

1. Total Football

2. Violence

3. Before the Water Gets Too high

4. Mardi Gras Beads

5. Almost Had to Start a Fight/In And Out of Patience

6. Freebird II

7. Normalization

8. Back to Earth

9. Wide Awake

10. NYC Observation

11. Extinction

12. Death Will Bring Change

13. Tenderness

Andrew, Austin, Sean and Max are taking ‘Wide Awake!’ on the road (and bringing fellow Rough Trade band Goat Girl across America with them in the summer).

Parquet Courts Tour Dates:

Thu. Feb. 22 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Cocoanut Grove Ballroom w/ Thurston Moore, Heron Oblivion

Fri. Feb. 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever w/ Mary Lattimore ***SOLD OUT***

Sat. Feb. 24 – Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever w/ Anna St. Louis ***SOLD OUT***

Tue. Apr. 24 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall

Thu. Apr. 26 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s – Levitation w/ Ty Segall

Fri. Apr. 27 – Norman, OK @ Norman Music Festival

Sat. Apr. 28 – Dallas, TX @ Sons of Hermann Hall

Sun. Apr. 29 – Englewood, CO @ The Gothic Theatre

Sat. May 5 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival

Wed. May 23 – Boston, MA @ Royale w/ Goat Girl

Thu. May 24 – Providence, RI @ Fete Ballroom w/ Goat Girl