Parquet Courts
Content Nausea
(What’s Your Rupture?)

For anyone looking for rock music that sounds straight out of the past, look no further than Brooklyn’s own Parquet Courts. The band’s fourth album is also impressively its second of the year, but Content Nausea doesn’t feel like an afterthought. The band was literally stripped back after life obligations caused two of its members to be absent during much of the recording.

This combined with the four-track recording leads to an album that sounds like a record that could have been made by the Velvet Underground, from the recording quality to vocals alternating between droning and frenzied spoken word. However, the lyrics are very much modern, with the title track rattling off the stresses of modern like “too much data, too much tension.” “The more connected, the more alone,” is a brilliant observation that doesn’t feel hypocritical coming from such a DIY band.

Other highlights include “Psycho Structures,” which is just muffled enough to add a slightly ominous edge. In contrast, the cover of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” is remarkably crisp and a fun acoustic take on the song. When the feedback and horns kick in at the end, it’s the perfect punctuation to personalize the song.

Content Nausea is an album worth waiting years for, so the fact that Parquet Courts managed to record this in two weeks is remarkable. Whatever comes next from them, there are no doubts that it will be soon and brilliant.