Parquet Courts Share Claymation Video for Second Sympathy for Life Single, "Black Widow Spider"

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Parquet Courts have offered up another sneak peek at their forthcoming album Sympathy for Life (Oct. 22, Rough Trade), “Black Widow Spider.” The Brooklyn rockers have also announced a spring 2022 North American tour in support of their LP.

The follow-up to acclaimed lead track “Walking at a Downtown Pace,” “Black Widow Spider” has bluesy undertones and electro-rock overtones, with heavily distorted guitar licks leading the way. A. Savage’s lyrics are bruised, yet direct: “I’m tryin’ to forget about someone I love / I’m tryin’ to leave a person behind / I’m tryin’ not to think about someone dear / but tryin’ doesn’t work sometimes.” The band’s method of improvising on tape, then cutting up and rearranging those instrumentals results here in jammy, danceable verses, though the choruses, in which Savage invites the titular arachnid in, are oddly muted, perhaps in reflection of his despair.

“I told [producer] Rodaidh McDonald that I wanted to find a sound that was equal parts Can, Canned Heat and This Heat,” says Savage of the song. “He was really into that and probably took some glee in having such a bizarre challenge.”

Director and animator Shayne Ehman says of the “Black Widow Spider” video, “We were inspired by the claymation master Art Clokey. I wanted the video to feel like it was shot in the 1950s and so I used very old lenses. One was a brass projection lens from the 1860s and another was radioactive.”

Check it out below and see Parquet Courts’ complete tour itinerary further down, with new dates in bold.

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Parquet Courts Tour Dates:

September
18 – Augustine, FL @ Sing Out Loud Festival
22 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre &
24 – Marfa, TX @ Trans-Pecos Festival
26 – Accord, NY @ Woodsist Festival

October
02 – Tampa, FL @ Gasparilla Music Festival
28 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom ^
29 – Richmond, VA @ The National ^
30 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ^
31 – Lancaster, PA @ Tellus360 ^

November
03 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground !
04 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre !
05 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts !
06 – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Stone Pony !
15 – Dallas, TX @ Studio at the Factory
17 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
19 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre
21 – Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital Music Festival

February 2022
27 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel *
28 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *

March 2022
02 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *
03 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn *
04 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom *
05 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
07 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall *
08 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room *
10 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
11 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall *
12 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre *
13 – Detroit, MI @ MOCAD *
15 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre *
16 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre *
17 – Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre *
18 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre *
31 – Boston, MA @ Royale #

April 2022
01 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel $
02 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel #
04 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #
05 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore %
22 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
23 – Vancouver, BC @ The Imperial
25 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
27 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre
29 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
30 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park

May 2022
21 – Paris, FR @ La Trianon
22 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix
24 – Cologne, DE @ Stollwerck
25 – Berlin, DE @ Heimathafen Neukölln
27 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich
28 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
30 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
31 – Lille, FR @ Le Grand Mix

June 2022
01 – Lyon, FR @ Epicerie Moderne
03 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
08 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk
09 – London, UK @ Brixton O2 Academy
11 – Dublin, IE @ Helix
12 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
13 – Leeds, UK @ Stylus
15 – Glasgow, UK @ The Barrowland Ballroom
16 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute

(& supporting Portugal. The Man)
(^ w/ P.E.)
(! w/ Public Practice)
(* w/ Mdou Moctar)
(# w/ Hailu Mergia)
(% w/ Sun Ra Arkestra)
($ w/ Yu Su)

Parquet Courts Share Claymation Video for Second Sympathy for Life Single, “Black Widow Spider”