At ten minutes, it provides the band all of the space to build a groove, deconstruct it, and then start the process all over again. Compare that with the original 12″ single version of the song, released back in June. On Sympathy for Life, it’s a six-minute song that makes good enough use of Sean Yeaton’s bassline, though the album version presents it as a more conventional song, centered around Austin Brown’s chorus. If that sounds a bit too abstract, look no further than “Plant Life”. The band are clearly aiming for the trance of repetition and the ecstasy of a hard-earned climax, but the confines of the album never provide the necessary space. The problem, though, is that the editing often steps on the LPs aspirations. Understandably, those sessions were edited down from their long run times and reconfigured for Sympathy for Life. Unlike previous records, though, the band tracked the album through extended jam sessions, hoping to capture the hypnotic energy of a great DJ set. Likewise, “Black Widow Spider” and “Homo Sapien” place drum fills and bass drops to the front of the mix as if they’ve been designed with subwoofers in mind. Meanwhile, Savage’s description of the bleaker aspects of modern living (“Planning the future as if time is yours to choose / Pick out a movie. A sandwich from a screen”) aren’t too far removed from the existential longing of “Normalisation” and “NYC Observation”. The propulsive drums on “Walking at a Downtown Pace” could be synced up with Wide Awake!’s title track.

In fact, some of the tracks on Sympathy for Life would not have been out of place on that record. In many ways, it’s a natural progression from Wide Awake’s emphasis on the low-end. Savage taped a note to his wall that read “CAN, CANNED HEAT, THIS HEAT” to remind the record’s aim. During the album’s early writing stages, frontman A. This time, they’re inspired by dance parties’ communal, ecstatic atmosphere, following in the path of the many rock bands who have gone in the same direction.

It’s only logical that in 2021, as they enter their second decade as a band, they’d continue to see what sounds they’d like to try on. Their most recent album, 2018’s excellent Wide Awake! took that experimentation even further, leaning into 1970s funk and dub. Sure, there’s the post-punk of Wire and the indie-rock of Pavement, but there’s also UGK, Nancy Sinatra, and the Beastie Boys.

Since their breakout Light Up Gold was released in 2013, the band have played with genres and influences like they’ve been rifling through a record collection. If you’ve been following Parquet Courts for the past decade, the fact that their latest album, Sympathy for Life, is an homage to dance music won’t come as a surprise.

Goapele closer album version