GNV hosts indie band Parquet Courts

Tonight, Brooklyn-based indie punk band Parquet Courts will be playing at the Wooly downtown. The show in Gainesville is part of the band’s month-long tour of the Eastern U.S., on which harpist/ambient musician Mary Lattimore is joining them.

Parquet Courts is a four-piece band that, since its formation in 2010, has steadily made its way from underground music scenes to the mainstream throughout five full-length albums. The group initially drew fans in with its frenetic instrumentation, raw vocals and experimental recording style. What sets Parquet Courts apart is their ability to achieve innovation in their sound and style with only four members.

“Parquet Courts is one of my favorite bands, I genuinely love all of their songs,” said Caden Kuchera, an 18-year-old UF physics freshman. “I feel like they understand what it’s like to be young in America today, and their music ranges from frantic punk to slow grooves, giving them a really dynamic sound.”

Though born in Texas and now living in New York, the band’s vocalist and guitarist Andrew Savage has several ties to Gainesville. In 2015, Parquet Courts went on tour with a now defunct Gainesville band, Soda. Andrew met Soda’s vocalist, Arlington Garrett, about 10 years ago at a house show here in town.

“Arlington used to live in a house where he had a lot of house shows. It was called ‘Bo Diddley house’ and it really was Bo Diddley’s house at one point. My old band, Teenage Cool Kids played there a couple of times,” Savage, 30, said. “I actually met one of my best friends at one of those shows, and now we run a label together.”

Savage grew up in Denton, Texas, which he cites as an influence for his involvement in music. Like Gainesville, Denton has a culture dominated by college students and young adults who live there.

“I feel like when you get young people coming in and out of a town, especially young people who are in that town to pursue education, it creates an environment that’s conducive to making a music scene,” he said.

Run-down houses in low-income neighborhoods become concert venues in small cities like Gainesville or Denton, and music thrives at these house shows. Musicians rent houses and can put on shows there off the cuff, without having to go through a professional venue.

“I had a house in Denton, and we had shows all the time,” Savage said. “That’s how I met Sean, the bassist of Parquet Courts. His old band played in my living room.”

Parquet Courts and Mary Lattimore will be joined by Gainesville band UV-TV. Tickets are available to purchase online at thewoolygainesville.com, or in person at Hear Again Records and Arrows Aim Records downtown. Tickets cost $15 in advance, and entry to the Wooly on the night of the event will cost $17. The show starts at 9 p.m.