Most people heard Parquet Courts' breakthrough second album Light Up Gold when it was re-released by What's Your Rupture in early 2013, but the album actually came out way before that -- August, 18 2012 -- on frontman Andrew Savage's Dull Tools label. Happy 10th birthday, Light Up Gold!
Light Up Gold came in at #37 on our list of favorite albums of the '00s and here's what we wrote:
Though they released American Specialties in 2011 (originally just as a tape), it was their second album, Light Up Gold, that announced Parquet Courts a major force and DIY indie rock flag-flyers. The album’s killer one-two punch opening salvo of “Master of My Craft” and “Borrowed Time,” was also the band in a nutshell: ultra-hooky, highly quotable (“Socrates died in the fucking gutter!”) arty punk that could be both snarky and sentimental, and bristled with high-tension energy. Written by Texas transplants Andrew Savage and Austin Brown and energized by their new home, Light Up Gold is also a classic New York record, telling tales of “billionaire buses on my unlit streets” and being stoned and starving in Ridgewood, Queens. Parquet Courts have continued to make good on Light Up Gold’s promise but it’s this first impression that sticks with you.
You can also read our report from the Light Up Gold release show at Death by Audio, and if you haven't listened to the album in a while, do so below.
