Last year I plugged POOLSIDE, a band with aspirations no greater than inspiring you to chill out and drink adult beverages next to a sterile body of water. The ocean, most likely. I definitely don’t see them advocating a stagnant pool or freshwater lake. This year, I’ve got another fantastic candidate for chill-the-fuck-out record of the year. I submit to you: VONDELPARK. Critics seem to call them dream pop, but that doesn’t really translate here. Vocals are whispy, synthy and minimal. Listen to this:
Call it what you will. Lo-fi 80’s R&B. Bedroom glitch soul. Perhaps. Whatever it is, this entire record is electric and should get moved to the front of any of your “to-listen playlists.” The video’s pretty damn cool too. This record has that Poolside feel to it, the kind of fun, soulful record that just won’t give up its hold of the turntable.
Every year has a first. The first great song. The first great album. The first disappointing album. The first interview with a band pretending to discuss their disappointing album without calling it disappointing and instead opting to call it a “departure.”
I heard “Borrowed Time” from the Parquet Courts on XM last week. It earned an on-the-go Shazam tag. All this means is that I may or may not remember to look it up sometime in the near future. Well, I remembered. And I’m currently loving this record.
Parquet Courts, Light Up Gold
The Sound: The the NY-via-Texas Parquet Courts cites Pavement and Guided By Voices as immediate influences. I’d add The Feelies or Sonic Youth into that equation. It’s stripped-down guitar-driven indie rock/post-punk with the aim of sincerity. There’s no sense of self-awareness or indulgent posturing. In many ways it is the intersection of the now scarce rock and roll earnestness of the 70’s and early 90’s and Light Up Gold sounds like a classic record. Parquet Courts is dabbling in familiar frequencies, but owning them, making those Sonic Youth riffs entirely their own.
