Ever since the start of this month, I’ve been anxiously waiting for it to end, and no, not just because the weather has been downright ungodly here in Eugene. I’ve been ansty all month, standing by for a show that I’d expected to be the major thing of the spring — New York based rock band Parquet Courts touring with LA post punk trio Automatic.
I usually am running too late to catch the opener, but I wasn’t going to pass them by this time.
Automatic’s sound feels like a more lowkey take on Le Tigre’s self titled 1999 album.
It bites. It’s got the same chick punk flavor, but this time more coy and less Rocky Horror.
The sterility of the synth and drone of Izzy Glaudini’s vocals feel like polished chrome, and it dips into pleasantries of the robotic and mechanical, but a reliable bassline appears to keep a head bob about the whole thing.
In short — I wanna get messy to this music in a German discotheque. Tonight however, Portland’s Crystal Ballroom will have to do.
The LA based trio formed in 2017 and put out their first full length “Signal” in 2019 on Stones Throw. Automatic has released two singles, “New Beginnings” and “Venus Hour,” off the band’s upcoming album “Excess,” set to release in June. Drummer Lola Dompe described the album as coming from a similar place as “Signal,” but this time more evolved.
The June release was recorded on tape by Joo-Joo Ashworth at the Los Angeles analog studio, Studio 22. Completed in late 2021, “Excess” is still a fairly new record for everyone involved. Dompe, Glaudini and bassist Halle Saxton crack a smile at the fact that they’re not sick of it yet as most bands get after playing the same 10 tracks as they hit a tour.
As Automatic played, the venue started packing in.
When Automatic neared the end of its set, squeezing myself from the side of stage to the bar was a 5-minute ordeal full of “so sorry’s” and dirty looks from territorial 20-somethings who thought I was trying to steal their spot.
Enter Parquet Courts.
Parquet Courts started their set with “Application/Apparatus,” and the tight bodies packed even tighter as the guitar heavy intro synced up with an orange strobing light.
Like the first track, the bulk of the songs they played came off of their 2021 album “Sympathy For Life,” but it was no debate that the crowd shook the floor the hardest when they threw their classics into the mix. The band played their set super tight, but they bantered so casually you’d think it was just another Monday night to them.
Between songs, the boys would pull all the classic out-of-towner bits like, “Why are your liquor laws so medieval here when mushrooms are legal?”
It’s corny and endearing which is exactly what I’d expect from Courts. There’s this wholesome anecdote I’ve heard passed around that frontman Andrew Savage first met Austin Brown, guitar and keys player, back in college at a meeting for a record listening group called “Knights of the Round Turntable.” Totally cheese and totally sweet.
Speaking of the frontman, one of the things that struck me was Savage had this killer, powerful voice that sounds much more combed through and tamed on record than it does in person. I love the rawness of his live performance. It was dripping with vibrance.
I’ve been trapped by too many bands that I like on record that were a total waste of time live. Parquet Courts is not one of those bands.
Like I said before, the whole thing was tight. I suppose that’s what you get when your band has been together for the better part of 10 years. Their first album “American Specialties” — what the reddit lore calls their “lost” album — came out in 2011. For perspective, I was a chunky 10- year-old who talked to my Joe Jonas poster in 2011. These guys have been around for a damn long time.
What other band is still relevant 11 years later with the same lineup, the same exciting live performance and, most importantly, decent albums still coming out? Not many.
All in all, I’ve got no complaints about the Automatic and Parquet Courts show this past Monday, and I’m looking forward to another total powerhouse bill like this to come.
