On Oct, 19, New-York based rock band Parquet Courts released a music video for “Homo Sapien,” a song from their upcoming album Sympathy for Life. In anticipation of the album’s Oct. 22 release, the band previously uploaded a claymation video for “Black Widow Spider,” a joyful and urban one for “Walking at a Downtown Pace,” and now a similarly playful one for the newest track.

As the video begins, the most striking image is bassist Sean Yeaton dressed as Mozart, who takes his own twist on the classical composer by shredding on the bass and headbanging as the band plays inside a theater. The rest of the band, however, is ordinarily dressed in plain t-shirts and jeans for the song, a performance that is anything but ordinary.

During the last 30 seconds of the video, the lights turn off and the guitar goes slightly out of tune, and the camera pans in on each individual member of the band alone in the open room. This may have been a reflection of the concerns that hide behind the lyrics; the song describes the feeling of discovering meaning in yourself once someone else appreciates it, but once each musician is left on their own, they must search for that meaning themselves. 

“The biggest asset we have as artists is the band,” guitarist Austin Brown said in a press release. “After 10 years together, our greatest instrument is each other. The purest expression of Parquet Courts is when we are improvising.”  

The band is currently on tour, with the next date being a record release show on Oct. 22 in New York and the last one being on June 16, 2022, in Birmingham. 

Parquet Courts Tour Dates
Fri. Oct. 22 – New York, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg – RECORD RELEASE SHOW – SOLD OUT
Thu. Oct. 28 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom ^
Fri. Oct. 29 – Richmond, VA @ The National ^
Sat. Oct. 30 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ^
Sun. Oct. 31 – Lancaster, PA @ Tellus360 ^
Wed. Nov. 03 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground !
Thu. Nov. 04 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre !
Fri. Nov. 05 – Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts !
Sat. Nov. 06 – Asbury Park, NJ @ The Stone Pony !
Mon. Nov. 15 – Dallas, TX @ Studio at the Factory !
Wed. Nov. 17 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall !
Fri. Nov. 19 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre !
Sun. Nov. 21 – Mexico City, MC @ Corona Capital Music Festival
Sun. Feb. 27 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel *
Mon. Feb. 28 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
Wed. March 2 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *
Thu. March 3 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn *
Fri. March 4 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom *
Sat. March 5 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant *
Mon. March 7 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall *
Tue. March 8 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room *
Thu. March 10 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
Fri. March 11 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall *
Sat. March 12 – Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre *
Sun. March 13 – Detroit, MI @ MOCAD *
Tue. Mar. 15 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre *
Wed. Mar. 16 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre *
Thu. March 17 – Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre *
Fri. March 18 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre *
Thu. March 31 – Boston, MA @ Royale #
Fri. April 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel $
Sat. April 2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel #
Mon. April 4 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #
Tue. April 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore %
Wed. April 20 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theater
Fri. April 22 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
Sat. April 23 – Vancouver, BC @ The Imperial
Mon. April 25 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Wed. April 27 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
Thu. April 28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre
Fri. April 29 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
Sat. April 30 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
Sat. May 21 – Paris, FR @ La Trianon
Sun. May 22 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix
Tue. May 24 – Cologne, DE @ Stollwerck
Wed. May 25 – Berlin, DE @ Heimathafen Neukölln
Fri. May 27 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich
Sat. May 28 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
Mon. May 30 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Tue. May 31 – Lille, FR @ Le Grand Mix
Wed. June 1 – Lyon, FR @ Epicerie Moderne
Fri. June 3 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
Wed. June 8 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk
Thu. June 9 – London, UK @ Brixton O2 Academy
Sat. June 11 – Dublin, IE @ Helix
Sun. June 12 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
Mon. June 13 – Leeds, UK @ Stylus
Wed. June 15 – Glasgow, UK @ The Barrowland Ballroom
Thu. June 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