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This time last year they were unknowns self-releasing their Light Up Gold album in a limited run, but now New York/Texas indie-punks Parquet Courts are packing out the Big Top tent at End Of The Road.

They’re not even headlining, but the place is full of fans, nodding along to “Careers In Combat” and wildly cheering “Borrowed Time”.

The four-piece take a while to get going, but really hit their sloppy stride when they get to “Master Of My Craft”, powering through a selection of Light Up Gold tracks exactly as they appear on the record – at breakneck speed with no pause for breath. Although he’s basically playing the same beat the whole evening, you’ve got to feel for drummer Max Savage.

The set nears its close with “You’ve Got Me Wondering Now”, from their forthcoming EP, but climaxes with the group’s customary farewell, “Stoned And Starving” – this proto-motorik groover, the longest track on Light Up Gold, is stretched out even further live, with Andrew Savage and Austin Brown generating all manner of feedback from their Squier budget guitars, while the bass and drums drone on and on… For a few minutes it’s like Hawkwind if they’d grown up in New York instead of Ladbroke Grove.

Undoubtedly one of the best, and brattiest, sets End Of The Road is likely to see this year.

Tom Pinnock

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