# Sunbathing Animal > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sunbathing_Animal > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sunbathing_Animal.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbathing_Animal > Source revision: 1292307548 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Sunbathing Animal | type = studio | artist = [Parquet Courts](/source/Parquet_Courts) | cover = Sunbathinganimal.jpeg | border = yes | alt = | released = June 3, 2014 | recorded = | venue = | studio = *Seaside Lounge, [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn) *Outlier Inn, [Woodridge](/source/Woodridge%2C_New_York) | genre = | length = 46:13 | language = | label = * [Mom + Pop](/source/Mom_%2B_Pop) * What's Your Rupture?{{nbsp}}(US) * [Rough Trade](/source/Rough_Trade_Records){{nbsp}}(UK) | producer = Jonathan Schenke | prev_title = [Tally All the Things That You Broke](/source/Tally_All_the_Things_That_You_Broke) | prev_year = 2013 | next_title = [Content Nausea](/source/Content_Nausea) | next_year = 2014 | misc = {{Singles | name = Sunbathing Animal | type = studio | single1 = Sunbathing Animal | single1date = April 1, 2014 | single2 = Black & White | single2date = May 1, 2014 | single3 = Instant Disassembly | single3date = May 15, 2014 }} }} '''''Sunbathing Animal''''' is the third studio album by the American [punk rock](/source/punk_rock) band [Parquet Courts](/source/Parquet_Courts), released on June 3, 2014, on What's Your Rupture? and [Rough Trade Records](/source/Rough_Trade_Records). ==Recording== ''Sunbathing Animal'' was recorded in 2013, over the course of three sessions. The first of these sessions yielded the EP, ''[Tally All the Things That You Broke](/source/Tally_All_the_Things_That_You_Broke)'' (2013), with vocalist and guitarist Austin Brown stating, “We had to kind of squeeze [recording] in between long runs of touring; whenever we had a couple of weeks off, we’d try to arrange a few days in the studio. The first session more or less produced the EP that we put out last year, ''Tally All the Things That You Broke''; that was all brand new stuff, that we just laid down and got out right off the bat. We had a few more songs back then that we saved for the record, and we put all of it down later last year. It wasn't a stretch at all; we were never rushing to get anything finished."{{cite web |url= http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/interviews/parquet-courts-we-exist-within-our-own-space |title=Interview: Parquet Courts |first=Joe |last=Goggins |work=thelineofbestfit.com |accessdate=8 June 2014}} ==Writing and composition== The band began writing material for ''Sunbathing Animal'' shortly after recording its predecessor, ''[Light Up Gold](/source/Light_Up_Gold)'' (2012), with vocalist and guitarist Austin Brown noting: "The truth is, we've been writing new material ever since we wrapped the last one up. If anything, we took our time". Many of the album's lyrics were written whilst on tour in support of ''Light Up Gold'', with Brown stating: "There’s a few prevailing themes going on, but the major one kind of involves a duality between freedom and captivity; that balance between the freedom that you find in being in a band - or just being a creative person in the world, that’s trying to leave their mark - and then the captivity that goes along with the constraints that you come up against when you’re trying to make shit work, and a lot of the time having it fail. I think [vocalist and guitarist] Andrew [Savage] saw that dichotomy in the story behind the title, and it works well in that respect, because it runs all the way through the record." Brown later elaborated, stating that the album's lyrical content is its most important aspect: "When we started out to make this record, the focus was – more than ever – on the lyrics. They came first in the process and are meant to be right at the front, so that you’re forced to listen to them. I mean, I don’t know if there’s a hook or chorus on the whole record; but that forces the audience to create their own, depending on which lyric pops out to them – so in its own way it becomes the chorus.”{{cite web |url= http://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/features/307958-ascending_animal_kingdom_parquet_courts_austin_brown_interviewed |title=Ascending The Animal Kingdom: Parquet Courts' Austin Brown Interviewed |first=Simon Jay |last=Catling |work=theskinny.co.uk |accessdate=8 June 2014}} ===Musical style=== The songs on ''Animal'' take on "twitchy" [garage rock](/source/garage_rock) and "literate" [punk rock](/source/punk_rock) and shifts between "[post-punk](/source/post-punk) propulsion and slower, moodier experiments." == Critical reception == {{Music ratings | ADM = 7.6/10{{cite web|url=http://www.anydecentmusic.com/review/6434/Parquet-Courts-Sunbathing-Animal.aspx|title=Sunbathing Animal by Parquet Courts reviews|publisher=AnyDecentMusic?|accessdate=June 18, 2018}} | MC = 78/100{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/sunbathing-animal/parquet-courts|title=Reviews for Sunbathing Animal by Parquet Courts|publisher=[Metacritic](/source/Metacritic)|accessdate=November 21, 2014}} | rev1 = [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) | rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|last=Sendra|first=Tim|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/sunbathing-animal-mw0002646476|title=Sunbathing Animal – Parquet Courts|publisher=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)|accessdate=November 21, 2014}} | rev2 = ''[The A.V. Club](/source/The_A.V._Club)'' | rev2Score = B+{{cite news|last=Anthony|first=David|date=June 3, 2014|url=https://www.avclub.com/review/parquet-courts-expands-its-attack-sunbathing-anima-204995|title=Parquet Courts expands its attack on Sunbathing Animal|newspaper=[The A.V. Club](/source/The_A.V._Club)|location=Chicago|accessdate=November 21, 2014}} | rev3 = ''[Cuepoint](/source/Cuepoint)'' ([Expert Witness](/source/Robert_Christgau)) | rev3Score = A−{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=November 21, 2014|url=https://medium.com/cuepoint/robert-christgau-expert-witness-7c83f8c6966c|title=Robert Christgau: Expert Witness|work=[Cuepoint](/source/Cuepoint)|accessdate=November 21, 2014|archive-date=November 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129043801/https://medium.com/cuepoint/robert-christgau-expert-witness-7c83f8c6966c|url-status=dead}} | rev4 = ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'' | rev4Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite news|last=Bakare|first=Lanre|date=June 5, 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jun/05/parquet-courts-sunbathing-animal-review|title=Parquet Courts: Sunbathing Animal review – twitchy garage-rock tales|newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)|location=London|accessdate=November 21, 2014}} | rev5 = ''[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)'' | rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news|last=Gill|first=Andy|date=May 31, 2014|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-reviews-kasabian-parquet-courts-martin--eliza-carthy-holland-dozier-holland-ethan-johns-james-9454520.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-reviews-kasabian-parquet-courts-martin--eliza-carthy-holland-dozier-holland-ethan-johns-james-9454520.html |archive-date=2022-05-25 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Album reviews: Kasabian, Parquet Courts, Martin & Eliza Carthy, Holland Dozier Holland, Ethan Johns, James|newspaper=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)|location=London|accessdate=November 21, 2014}} | rev6 = ''[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)'' | rev6Score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news|last=Martens|first=Todd|date=June 2, 2014|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-parquet-courts-20140603-story.html|title=Review: Parquet Courts' literate punk|newspaper=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)|accessdate=November 21, 2014}} | rev7 = ''[NME](/source/NME)'' | rev7Score = 8/10{{cite journal|last=Homewood|first=Ben|date=May 30, 2014|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/parquet-courts/15345|title=Parquet Courts – 'Sunbathing Animal'|journal=[NME](/source/NME)|location=London|accessdate=November 21, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411014422/http://www.nme.com/reviews/parquet-courts/15345|archivedate=April 11, 2016|url-status=dead}} | rev8 = ''[Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(website))'' | rev8Score = 8.6/10{{cite web|last=Fitzmaurice|first=Larry|date=June 4, 2014|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19403-parquet-courts-sunbathing-animal/|title=Parquet Courts: Sunbathing Animal|work=[Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(website))|accessdate=November 21, 2014}} | rev9 = ''[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)'' | rev9Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Sheffield|first=Rob|author-link=Rob Sheffield|issue=1211|date=June 19, 2014|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/sunbathing-animal-20140603|title=Sunbathing Animal|magazine=[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)|location=New York|accessdate=November 21, 2014}} | rev10 = ''[Spin](/source/Spin_(magazine))'' | rev10Score = 8/10{{cite journal|last=Gubbels|first=Jason|date=June 2, 2014|url=http://www.spin.com/reviews/parquet-courts-sunbathing-animal/|title=Parquet Courts Are Inscrutably Awesome on 'Sunbathing Animal' (Which Does Not Sound Like Pavement)|journal=[Spin](/source/Spin_(magazine))|location=New York|accessdate=November 21, 2014}} }} ''Sunbathing Animal'' received generally positive reviews from [music critics](/source/music_journalism). At [Metacritic](/source/Metacritic), which assigns a [normalized](/source/Standard_score) rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an [average](/source/weighted_mean) score of 78, based on 35 reviews. ''[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)'' magazine's [Rob Sheffield](/source/Rob_Sheffield) said the band has evolved musically since ''Light Up Gold'', while [Robert Christgau](/source/Robert_Christgau) wrote in ''[Cuepoint](/source/Cuepoint)'' that "Andrew Savage has succeeded at composing songs with distinct hooks at differing lengths and tempos and constructing an album that reveals more goodies the more you play it." In a less enthusiastic review, Lanre Bakare of ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'' felt their "twitchy garage-rock tales" about alienated characters make the album sound monotonous. Pitchfork placed the album at 140 on their list of "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s".{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-2010s/|title=The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s|work=[Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(website))|date=8 October 2019|accessdate=19 February 2020}} ==Track listing== {{track listing | all_writing = Parquet Courts | collapsed = | headline = | total_length = 46:13 | title1 = Bodies Made Of | length1 = 3:21 | title2 = Black & White | length2 = 3:02 | title3 = Dear Ramona | length3 = 2:34 | title4 = What Color Is Blood? | length4 = 3:24 | title5 = Vienna II | length5 = 1:02 | title6 = Always Back in Town | length6 = 2:37 | title7 = She's Rolling | length7 = 6:33 | title8 = Sunbathing Animal | length8 = 3:52 | title9 = Up All Night | length9 = 1:02 | title10 = Instant Disassembly | length10 = 7:12 | title11 = Ducking & Dodging | length11 = 4:29 | title12 = Raw Milk | length12 = 3:59 | title13 = Into the Garden | length13 = 3:00 }} ==Personnel== ;Parquet Courts * Andrew Savage – vocals, guitar * Austin Brown – vocals, guitar, keyboards * Sean Yeaton – bass guitar * Max Savage – drums, percussion ;Additional musicians * Lea Cho – harmonica {{small|(''7'')}} ;Recording personnel * Jonathan Schenke – recording, mixing * Joe Laporta – mastering ;Artwork * Andrew Savage – artwork ==References== {{reflist}} {{Parquet Courts}} {{Authority control}} Category:2014 albums Category:Parquet Courts albums Category:Rough Trade Records albums Category:What's Your Rupture? albums --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sunbathing Animal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbathing_Animal) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbathing_Animal?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.