House of dreams, you were once my girl for New York City blues', Andrew Savage sings in Walking At A Downtown Pace. The delicious opening track of this seventh Parquet Courts album echoes the exact musical traditions of their home town. Velvet Underground's pushy rhythms, Television's dryly rasping guitar braids and Sonic Youth's atonal chords. Black Widow Spider and Just Shadows sound just as
… familiar (and almost as delicious). But in songs like Marathon Of Anger, Plant Life and the funky title track, Parquet Courts opts for an alternative route, with a lot of emphasis on dance rhythms and electronics. To stay in Big Apple terms: more Talking Heads - at the time of Fear Of Music - and perhaps even more the successful offshoot Tom Tom Club. Nothing wrong with that either, but a pity the band couldn't choose a clear direction. That's why Sympathy For Life is a two-track affair, while the danceable side of the music actually wants more. (RME)more
