Wide Awake!

There’s nothing polite about Wide Awake! and that’s precisely the point. Parquet Courts’ sixth studio album, released on 18 May 2018 via Rough Trade, arrives with clenched fists and dancing feet, a furious yet jubilant hybrid of punk, funk, and political provocation. It’s confrontational music for the modern moment — angry, urgent, but never cynical.

Produced by Danger Mouse, a leftfield choice for the band, the album sees Parquet Courts deliberately stepping outside their comfort zone. The result is electrifying. Tracks like “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience” burn with hardcore ferocity, while the title track leans into groove-heavy exuberance, channelling the joyful rage of Funkadelic as much as the no-frills intensity of early punk. Andrew Savage’s lyrics cut with intent, whether targeting systemic violence or rallying around collective action. This is protest music, sharpened for the dancefloor.

The group’s vocal interplay, often shouted in unison, reinforces the album’s sense of community. Rather than wallow in despair, Wide Awake! finds clarity through motion. “Violence” becomes a standout, described as an “epic rant” in Rolling Stone, but it’s the album’s overall cohesion, its ability to balance satire with sincerity, that cements its power.

Critics widely embraced the album, which earned an average score of 82 on Metacritic and was named Album of the Year by Australia’s Double J. Paste placed it second in their end-of-year list, and reviews hailed it as both a musical and ideological triumph.

In a time defined by polarisation, Wide Awake! is both wake-up call and release. A record that demands you think, and dares you to dance.