Yesterday, I received what appeared to be a hand-scrawled mixtape in the mail. I was pretty slammed, so I didn't look it over too closely, but I did notice that it had a lot of bands I really like on it, like madcap Vermont songwriter Son of Salami, New York free-rock unit PC Worship, and a band called Parkay Quarts, which sounds an awful lot like Parquet Courts. For some strange reason—one I am tempted to link to the internet's unstoppable colonization of my brain space—it didn't occur to me until I received a press release online this morning that this tape was meant to be "premiere" of the NYC four-piece's new "You've Got Me Wondering Now" single, a special, limited edition missive straight from the artist to some 250 "fans and supporters."
I felt special to have been included in this group, which I assume has something to do with the fact that I interviewed Parquet Courts once, but I was a bit unsettled by how my mind's attention had been piqued more readily by an anonymous mass email than by the much more personal and unusual strategy of sending a home-made mixtape in the mail. Thinking of all the biting social commentary they tend pack into their lyrics, I'm not that surprised that they'd come up with a way of debuting a new track that makes you stop and think about what receiving a physical object means in the post-physical world of music blogging. Anyway, the track is available online now, and it's the first missive from the band's upcoming Tally All The Things That You Broke EP, which is out October 8 via What's Your Rupture?. In case you're curious, there's also a phone number on the mixtape they sent out. The number is (917) 471-2855, and I feel pretty ok copying it here, because it comes with the instructions "PLEASE SHARE WITH THE REST OF HUMANITY."
