Parquet Courts arrives in a renewed state of sound and mind on Sympathy for Life, the Brooklyn-based band’s seventh studio album. Recorded by band members Andrew Savage, Austin Brown, Max Savage and Sean Yeaton over the course of three months in late 2019 and early 2020, Sympathy for Life’s eleven tracks are a mélange of influences and genres, from rock to funk to Afrobeat to experimental. Scottish producer Rodaidh McDonald (The xx, David Byrne) harnessed the quartet’s freewheeling and lengthy improvisational sessions into a collection that tempers the outrage weaved throughout 2018’s Wide Awake! to focus on themes of isolation, automation, and hope.
The opening track, “Walking at a Downtown Pace,” is designed to get people moving with its driving bass line, wailing guitar, and sing-along chorus. “We really wanted a song that a DJ can play at a party. It was important for us to have that crossover feel, between rock and dance,” Brown told Apple Music. The song’s video, directed by street photographer Daniel Arnold, captures the party vibe with shaky-cam snippets of New Yorkers back out on the town in full force, dancing and cruising the streets. Though written and recorded before complete pandemic lockdown, “Walking at a Downtown Pace” expresses optimism for the future: “I’m making plans for the day all of this is through,” sings A. Savage, eager for the time when he can “return the smile of an unmasked friend” and “treasure the crowds that once made me act so annoyed.”
Like “Walking at a Downtown Pace,” the upbeat “Black Widow Spider” and “Homo Sapien” embrace the rock and roll aesthetic of earlier Parquet Courts albums like 2012’s Light Up Gold and 2014’s Sunbathing Animals. Distorted guitar riffs and tempo changes set the stage for a tale of lost love in “Black Widow Spider.” “Homo Sapien” launches straight into garage rock mode, maintaining its intensity for three glorious, head-banging minutes.
The slower tempo “Just Shadows” uses a deceptively pleasing melody and sing-songy vocals to address the dual frustrations of technology infiltrating everyday life and wanting to do right by the planet. A. Savage laments, “Amazon fire, twenty percent off/Global cost, vast species death.” We’re conditioned to recycle—”Trash goes in green, glass goes in blue”—without considering larger implications of what’s behind such actions: “Algorithmic waltz sets the pace/Indicates an authentic taste/Tell me what I love.”
Deeper cuts veer into more experimental territory for the band. The album’s title track, produced by frequent P.J. Harvey collaborator John Parish, embraces polyrhythmic beats commonly used in Afrobeat and jazz. Polyrhythm is when more than one beat is played in a bar at the same time. Per David Bennett Piano, examples of this include the intro of Radiohead’s “Let Down,” the chorus of Bob Marley’s “Is This Love” and the guitar solo in Them’s “Gloria.” The combination of beats produces a slightly off-kilter quality, which in the case of “Sympathy for Life,” results in a sound perfect for a late afternoon backyard hang. “Plant Life” has a similar tone, with bass lines and chord progressions suited for relaxation and enjoyment. These downtempo tracks feel deliberately placed within the album lineup to encourage listeners to mellow out.
As is common with Parquet Courts efforts, Sympathy for Life expresses concern for the state of the world. “Marathon of Anger,” in particular, was written in response to the Black Lives Matter movement that emerged nationwide in May 2020. “We’ve got the power/The streets are walkin’/A marathon of anger/Now it’s time everyone gone to work.” “Marathon of Anger” is a logical progression of the Wide Awake! tracks “Total Football” and “Violence,” which were biting indictments of the hatred and violence permeating the United States in the latter half of the 2010s. “Savage is my name because savage is how I feel/When the radio wakes me up with the words ‘suspected gunman,’” A. Savage spoke-sang on “Violence.” Instead of asking, “Have your hurt caucasian feelings left you so distraught?” as in “Total Football,” “Marathon of Anger” is focused on what’s going to happen next; how to organize and move forward in harmony. It’s also the only song recorded after the album’s main studio sessions wrapped.
Album closer “Pulcinella” is a satisfying conclusion the Sympathy for Life journey. Clocking in at 6:45 minutes, it’s the album’s longest track and has that “last song of the set” feel. Imagine standing side-by-side with friends at the end of a concert, arms around each other’s waists, gently swaying as the night comes to an end—that’s “Pulcinella.” There are no lyrics for the last 2:30 minutes of the tune, just the tender jamming of a band that has said its piece for now.