Today marks one month until the release of Parquet Courts‘ new album Sympathy For Life, and following on from lead single “Walking At A Downtown Pace” comes “Black Widow Spider”. Speaking about the sonics of the song, A. Savage says:
“I told [producer] Rodaidh McDonald that I wanted to find a sound that was equal parts Can, Canned Heat and This Heat. He was really into that and probably took some glee in having such a bizarre challenge.”
Well, Parquet Courts and their producer have been quite successful in their combination of those three legendary acts, with Canned Heat certainly audible in the dancey rhythms and tempo, while This Heat’s influence is also present in the way that the percussion pops over and under the guitars. It makes for an impressive sonic carriage that sounds confident, but Austin Brown takes lead vocal on this one and uses his hangdog voice to great effect. He cuts across the bustling song with a melancholic mood as he’s “trying to forget about someone I love / trying to leave a person behind / trying not to think about someone dear / but trying don’t work sometimes.” This ball of muted frustration projects itself as the titular “Black Widow Spider” in his life, and just like the guitars crawling all around him in the song, it keeps him company in his hours of loneliness – eventually crawling inside him…
To accompany “Black Widow Spider”, Parquet Courts have had a claymation video made by Shayne Ehman, who says:
“We were inspired by the claymation master Art Clokey. I wanted the video to feel like it was shot in the 1950’s and so I used very old lenses. One was a brass projection lens from the 1860’s and another was radioactive.”
Watch the video below or find “Black Widow Spider” on streaming platforms.
Parquet Courts’ new album Sympathy For Life arrives on October 22 through Rough Trade (pre-order/save).
They’ve added a bunch of new tour dates (in bold) to their plans:
PARQUET COURTS TOUR DATES (TICKETS)
Sat. Sept. 18 – Augustine, FL @ Sing Out Loud Festival
Wed. Sept. 22 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre &
Fri. Sept. 24 – Marfa, TX @ Trans-Pecos Festival
Sun. Sept. 26 – Accord, NY @ Woodsist Festival
Sat. Oct. 2 – Tampa, FL @ Gasparilla Music Festival
Thu. Oct. 28 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom ^
Fri. Oct. 29 – Richmond, VA @ The National ^
Sat. Oct. 30 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ^
Sun. Oct. 31 – Lancaster, PA @ Tellus360 ^
Wed. Nov. 03 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground !
Thu. Nov. 04 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre !
Fri. Nov. 05 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts !
Sat. Nov. 06 – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Stone Pony !
Mon. Nov. 15 – Dallas, TX @ Studio at the Factory
Wed. Nov. 17 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
Fri. Nov. 19 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre
Sun. Nov. 21 – Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital Music Festival
Sun. Feb. 27 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel *
Mon. Feb. 28 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
Wed. March 2 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *
Thu. March 3 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn *
Fri. March 4 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom *
Sat. March 5 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
Mon. March 7 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall *
Tue. March 8 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room *
Thu. March 10 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
Fri. March 11 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall *
Sat. March 12 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre *
Sun. March 13 – Detroit, MI @ MOCAD *
Tue. Mar. 15, 2022 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre *
Wed. Mar. 16, 2022 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre *
Thu. March 17 – Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre *
Fri. March 18 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre *
Thu. March 31 – Boston, MA @ Royale #
Fri. April 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel $
Sat. April 2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel #
Mon. April 4 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #
Tue. April 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore %
Fri. April 22 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
Sat. April 23 – Vancouver, BC @ The Imperial
Mon. April 25 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Wed. April 27 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
Thu. April 28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre
Fri. April 29 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
Sat. April 30 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
Sat. May 21 – Paris, FR @ La Trianon
Sun. May 22 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix
Tue. May 24 – Cologne, DE @ Stollwerck
Wed. May 25 – Berlin, DE @ Heimathafen Neukölln
Fri. May 27 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich
Sat. May 28 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
Mon. May 30 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Tue. May 31 – Lille, FR @ Le Grand Mix
Wed. June 1 – Lyon, FR @ Epicerie Moderne
Fri. June 3 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
Wed. June 8 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk
Thu. June 9 – London, UK @ Brixton O2 Academy
Sat. June 11 – Dublin, IE @ Helix
Sun. June 12 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
Mon. June 13 – Leeds, UK @ Stylus
Wed. June 15 – Glasgow, UK @ The Barrowland Ballroom
Thu. June 16 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute
& supporting Portugal. The Man
^ w/ P.E.
! w/ Public Practice
* w/ Mdou Moctar
# w/ Hailu Mergia
% w/ Sun Ra Arkestra$ w/ Yu Su
