Things just seem wrong at the moment. The politics I see seems futile and completely detached, the Music I hear seems predictable and empty, the narrative in which my life slowly meanders forward has no arch. I need an anchor. I need something to get my teeth into. I need a new soundtrack.
I'm yearning for something that sounds real, something more then an ambient backing track to nothing.
After a short search I am drawn to an album cover. I stare at it. A mustard yellow background frames a technicolor photograph of a rodeo rider squeezing a frightened bucking bull between his thighs. How strange.
I download the album, and immediately press play. What follows is more then a surprise. A simple, frantic, guitar sound rapidly escapes from my small black speakers. I immediately sit down and listen to what I hear.
The album is Light Up Gold, and the band are Parquet Courts, a Texan born New York based outfit whose music can boast a witty, emotive and articulate resonance that has stuck with me. This music is far more then the lazy post-punk label that has been applied to it. It is using a traditional method to reach out aggressively and do something different.
I like it very much.