Though made up of Texan transplants, Parquet Courts are a New York band. Throw out the countless shallow Brooklyn bands of the blasé 2000's: Light Up Gold is a conscious effort to draw from the rich culture of the city - the bands like Sonic Youth, Bob Dylan, and the Velvet Underground that are not from New York, but of it. A panoramic landscape of dilapidated corner-stores and crowded apartments is superimposed over bare-bones Americana, leaving little room for romance or sentiment. It's punk, it's American, it's New York... it's the colour of something you were looking for.

Light Up Gold is a dynamic and diverse foray into the back alleys of the American DIY underground. Bright guitars swirl over looping, groovy post-punk bass lines and drums that border on robotic precision. While the initial rawness of the band’s early output remains, the songwriting has gracefully evolved. Recorded over a few days in an ice-box practice space, Light Up Gold is equally indebted to The Modern Lovers, the Fall and The Feelies as well as a slew of contemporaries like Tyvek and Eddy Current Suppression Ring.

“Parquet Courts have produced a debut that’s both instantly addictive and lastingly rewarding” – The Guardian (*****)

“Goddamn great… a powerful, personality-heavy record” – NME (9/10)