Parkay Quarts – “Uncast Shadow of a Southern Myth”

Capping off a ridiculously productive 2014, Parquet Courts have announced a new album, Content Nausea, as recorded by their occasional alias Parkay Quarts. While the rhythm section sits this record out (one is finishing a degree in math, the other starting a family), vocalist/guitarists Austin Brown and Andrew Savage are on a roll. The first track, “Uncast Shadow of a Southern Myth,” showcases the songwriters’ growing strengths: over an unhurried strum, Brown narrates a travelogue through his region of origin, a mournful organ providing a Garth Hudson/The Band-like counterpart to his Dylanesque vision, before the song fades out in garage-rock chaos.

The song may recall the lyrical balladry from Parquet Courts’ last album (especially “Instant Disassembly”), but Content Nausea is hardly Sunbathing Animal redux. It’s a weirder album, with dissonant tunes and head-scratching instrumental passages masking its abrupt length (36 minutes). “Uncast Shadow of a Southern Myth” is in fact the album’s final track — the listener’s reward for joining this odd, entertaining journey. Less Pavement and more Wire, Content Nausea is the album Parquet Courts/Parkay Quarts needed to make to remind everyone why they’re not just another great New York guitar band.

Parkay Quarts’ Content Nausea comes out November 11 on What’s Your Rupture.