Parquet Courts
Sunbathing Animal
June 2 2014 (Rough Trade)
7.5/10
Words: Alison Mack
Brooklyn's punk quartet return with their third album, following on from 2012's 'Light Up Gold'. Whereas this was a highpoint for the short, energetic and to-the-point, with a stoned slacker delivery, 'Sunbathing Animal' shows a growth not just in song length like the title track - driven ruthlessly over four minutes - and 'Instant Disassembly', which covers seven-plus minutes of power chords and Andrew Savage intoning, "I kept explaining I was too tired to continue to speak," but also in the band's musical mindset.
While overall 'Sunbathing Animal' may not provide as easy a listen as 'Light Up Gold', it does show a tighter, more focussed progression. Containing paradoxical elements of urgency and a slacker's chilledness, they never enter the realm of the boredom factor.
From the punk fuzz of garage rock guitars on opener, the Velvets-esque 'Bodies Made Of' - with its punkish chorus, “bodies made of…slugs ‘n’ guts" - the stop-start refrain of 'Ducking & Dodging', through to the two-chord 'Black And White' - "Do I bother to define myself beyond what they allow? Have I forgotten how?" - it's a virtual non-stop, full on head rush, bar the softer, more subtle downplayed tones of 'Dear Ramona'.
'Sunbathing Animal' is not a great album, nor is it a bad one. It is a work that heralds the way ahead; a landmark on a journey rather than the final destination.
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