Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold

Light Up Gold by Parquet Courts is the first great record of the year (although technically released in 2012, I didn't hear it until this re-release sooo yeah, it's a 2013 record in my book. Deal with it).

At once being a crystallization of what it is to be in your early 20's in 2013 and what it is to be in your early 20's in any era, Light Up Gold is everything I want to say but am not able to articulate about my life. It touches on all of the hallmark feelings of being of this age: being envious of those who are successful while dismissing those same people, being a slacker and wanting to be great, underachieving, the feeling of being stuck in the same place forever, not being as smart as you thought you were, feeling smarter than everyone else , wondering why life isn't as easy as it used to be, being scared, being hopeful, being stricken with self-doubt, needing to find a job, the disgust you feel considering jobs you morally oppose, not being able to afford transport, taking drugs, starving, being cynical, loathing entitlement, being full of love and  hatred.

Being full of opposing notions and being hyper-aware of this condition is constantly being driven home on this album. Lyrically, there is a constant feeling of yearning on this record;  there is a sense that if the speaker could just get out of his own way he would be cured of his anxiety.However, not being able to get his head on straight because of his own trappings only adds to his angst. Essentially, Light Up Gold  is an hour long tale of existential crises and recovery told with keen wit and churning guitars.

And it is a tale that employs astonishingly high-quality lyricism. The words oscillate between the micro and the macro-- the specific and the general, the other and the self-- with amazing ease. Memorable lines aren't sung as much as they are vomited out. They pour out of the vocalists like a crowd of people trying to exit a club fire through the same door.

The instrumentation creates a mood of controlled chaos and inner turmoil, the LP is a poignantly crafted slacker-rock/ college radio aesthetic that falls somewhere between the Replacements and Guided By Voices.

There is a strong chance this will be my favorite record of the year and a guarantee that this will be on permanent loop on the ol' Ipod. Give it a listen.