Human Performance

This article is about the Parquet Courts album. For the peer-reviewed journal, see Human Performance (journal).

Human Performance is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Parquet Courts, released on April 8, 2016 on Rough Trade Records.^[14]

Human Performance
Studio album by Parquet Courts
Released	April 8, 2016
Genre	Indie rock art punk experimental rock post-punk garage rock[1]
Length	42:20
Language	English
Label	Rough Trade
Parquet Courts chronology
Monastic Living (2015) Human Performance (2016) Milano (2017)
Singles from Human Performance
"Dust" Released: February 4, 2016 "Berlin Got Blurry" Released: February 25, 2016 "Outside" Released: March 24, 2016 "Human Performance" Released: April 6, 2016

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.9/10[2]
Metacritic	82/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
The A.V. Club	A−[5]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[6]
The Guardian	[7]
NME	4/5[8]
Pitchfork	8.4/10[9]
Q	[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
Spin	8/10[12]
Vice	A[13]

The album was preceded by the singles "Dust", "Berlin Got Blurry", "Outside", and "Human Performance". It received a nomination for Best Recording Package at the 2017 Grammy Awards.

Background and recording

The band wrote much of Human Performance while recording the album at Dreamland Studios, New York: "We were living there, working around the clock, and there was never any time where we couldn’t be loud. It created an environment where we all encouraged each other to explore."^[15] Vocalist and guitarist Andrew Savage likened the experience to recording The Beatles' White Album: "I imagine it’s what recording [that album] would’ve been like except the whole band was getting along and nobody’s girlfriend was there."^[15]

Artwork

Receiving a nomination for Best Recording Package at the 2017 Grammy Awards,^[16] the album's artwork is by co-lead vocalist and guitarist A. Savage. Regarding its cover art, Savage noted: "I painted that in my own separate state of mind. I do a lot of artwork that has nothing to do with Parquet Courts, but it was around the same time that I started working on the Human Performance art, and it kind of just started screaming at me from the corner. It became apparent that it needed to be included, because so many of the same emotions were embedded within that painting were [also] within the lyrics of the record."^[17]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank	Ref.
Paste	The 50 Best Albums of 2016	2016	20	[18]
Pitchfork	The 20 Best Rock Albums of 2016	2016	—	[19]
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2016	2016	26	[20]
Rolling Stone	50 Best Albums of 2016	2016	17	[21]
The Skinny	Top 50 Albums of 2016	2016	9	[22]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Dust"	Brown and Savage	3:57
2.	"Human Performance"	Savage	4:15
3.	"Outside"	Savage	1:45
4.	"I Was Just Here"	Yeaton, Savage and Brown	1:48
5.	"Paraphrased"	Savage	3:01
6.	"Captive of the Sun"	Brown	2:03
7.	"Steady on My Mind"	Brown	3:38
8.	"One Man No City"	Brown	6:24
9.	"Berlin Got Blurry"	Savage	3:26
10.	"Keep It Even"	Brown	2:47
11.	"Two Dead Cops"	Savage	3:05
12.	"Pathos Prairie"	Savage	2:51
13.	"It's Gonna Happen"	Savage, Yeaton	3:20
Total length:			42:20

All tracks are written by Parquet Courts

Digital bonus track

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
14.	"Already Dead"	Brown	3:51
Total length:			46:11

Personnel

Parquet Courts

• Austin Brown - guitar, keys, vocals
• A. Savage - guitar, car, vocals
• Max Savage - drums, percussion, vocals
• Sean Yeaton - bass, vocals

Additional musicians:

• D. Crystal - flute on "Human Performance"
• Jeff Tweedy - additional guitar on "Dust" and "Keep it Even"
• Justin Pizzoferrato - additional car horn
• Jeff Tweedy appears courtesy of dBpm Records and Anti-

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23]	100
French Albums (SNEP)[24]	109
UK Albums (OCC)[25]	50
US Billboard 200[26]	118