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Parquet Courts Announce New Album Wide Awake!, Release “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience”

The prolific post-punks Parquet Courts recently sent postcards to fans advertising the URL wideawake.am, where an animated alarm clock ticked down the minutes until 10 a.m. this morning and the announcement of the band’s sixth studio album, Wide Awake!, out May 18 from Rough Trade. The new record was produced by Danger Mouse, an unexpected collaboration from a band whose existing catalog is self-produced. In a press release, Parquet Courts explain that it was Danger Mouse (a.k.a. Brian Burton) who approached them, and frontman A. Savage has this to say about the decision to team up with the guy behind the most recent Black Keys and Red Hot Chili Peppers albums:

“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.”

Savage goes on to namecheck hardcore bands Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, and Black Flag as points of reference for the new record, following up on an interview last year where he described Parquet Courts’ next album as being “all rippers,” no love songs. You can hear what that sounds like on first single “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience,” which finds Savage tackling existential frustration, nightmares, and MTA delays in an upbeat and tightly connected two-parter.

Parquet Courts’ most recent album was 2016’s Human Performance; A. Savage released his first solo album, Thawing Dawn, this past October. Watch the animated video for “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience” and check out the Wide Awake! cover art and track list below.

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