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Mar 08, 2018 By Christopher Roberts Parquet Courts

Parquet Courts are releasing a new Danger Mouse-produced album, Wide Awake!, on May 18 via Rough Trade. Previously they shared its first single, “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience” (which was one of our Songs of the Week). Now they have shared a video for another song from the album, almost title track “Wide Awake” (unlike the album title, it doesn’t feature an explanation point). The song is short and funky, 2:44 of the band mainly announcing that they are “wide awake.” Brother Willis directed the video, which features the band partying in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Watch the spirited video below.

Willis had this to say about the video in a press release: “I was very intrigued by the band’s idea to spend a few days filming all around New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Probably should’ve thought twice about it, but we all came out the other side changed people and with a video (or more?) in our collective pocket.”

“You’ll never guess what happens next….” adds Parquet Courts’ Austin Brown about the “To Be Continued…” ending.

Wide Awake! is the band’s fifth album and the follow-up to 2016’s excellent Human Performance. Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) is a fan of Parquet Courts and approached the band about working with them.

“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,” said frontman A. Savage in a press release in regards to working with Danger Mouse. “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.”

Savage says he was purposefully reacting against the ballads of Human Performance when co-writing the songs on Wide Awake! with Brown. “I needed an outlet for the side of me that feels emotions like joy, rage, silliness and anger,” he said in the press release, citing such influences as Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, and Black Flag. “All those bands make me want to dance and that’s what I want people to do when they hear our record.”

Brown had this to say in the press release: “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.”

Read our 2016 interview with Parquet Courts.

Parquet Courts Tour Dates:

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
Fri. May 25 - Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall w/ Goat Girl
Sat. May 26 - Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount w/ Goat Girl
Sun. May 27 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Theatre w/ Goat Girl
Mon. May 28 - Detroit, MI @ El Club w/ Goat Girl
Wed. May 30 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre w/ Goat Girl
Thu. May 31 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line w/ Goat Girl
Fri. June 1 - Lawrence, KS @ The Granada w/ Goat Girl
Sat. June 2 - St Louis, MO @ Ready Room w/ Goat Girl
Sun. June 3 - Nashville, TN @ Basement East w/ Goat Girl
Tue. June 5 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel w/ Goat Girl
Wed. June 6 - Carborro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle w/ Goat Girl
Thu. June 7 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club w/ Goat Girl
Fri. June 8 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer w/ Goat Girl
Fri. June 15 - Richmond, VA @ Friday Cheers at Brown’s Island
Wed. July 4 - Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
Thu. July 5 - Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
Fri. July 6 - Groningen, NL @ Vera
Sun. July 8 - Hérouville saint Clair, FR @ Festival Beauregard Festival
Thu. July 12 - Bilbao, ES @ Bilbao BBK Festival
Sat. July 14 - Beccles, UK @ Latitude Festival
Sun. July 15 - Kortrijk, BE @ De Kreun
Tue. July 17 - Duedingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
Sat. Aug. 4 - Sun. Aug. 5 - Missoula, MT @ Travelers’ Rest Festival

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