I want to go to Austin, Texas. Personally, I’ve never much been a fan of the Lone Star State or any of its inhabitants, which appear, at least from what I’ve seen on TV, to be “longhorns”, “cowboys”, “mavericks”, and people named Bush. It’s also a bitch to drive through. But a state that encompasses nearly 270,000 square miles is bound to have at least one bright spot. Austin appears to be that bright spot, at least in the musical world, giving us such events as South by Southwest and Austin City Limits, and current artists such as Ghostland Observatory and Okkervil River as well as classics like Buddy Holly and Stevie Ray Vaughn). Another band I think is destined to be a part of the pantheon of great ‘Austinites’ (?) is White Denim.
White Denim is a 3-piece group that has a sound that is unlike anything else out there. Writing this it was impossible to try and come up with one type of music in which to pigeonhole their sound. I’ll just call it punkjazzsoulpsychedelicbluesfusion. On their latest album ,“Fits”, their third, James Petralli, Joshua Block, and Steve Terebecki pull off the hat trick. Petralli sounds like a cacophonous, ragged-voiced Frank Zappa wailing through the lo-fi production. From the moment Terebecki’s bass drives and Block’s beat up drums (held together with silver duct tape when live) kick on the lead track “Radio Milk How Can You Stand It” you are immediately propelled into a psychedelic blues freak-out that continues for the length of the song, and bleeds in and out of every track on the album.
The second track “All Consolation” is a perfect example of how much this band can fit into a single song. By the time it’s over, White Denim has jammed through more styles than you can count. With an average track length of only about 3 minutes, there are surprisingly layers upon layers of sonic tastiness to slather on your aural canals. They also have the most inspired cowbell use since Will Ferrell was in the Blue Oyster Cult.
Throughout the rest of the album the band dips their feet in the each of the stylized rock schools of the past 5 decades, at some times sounding like a soul band playing the blues at a Mexican wedding (just listen to “El Hard Attack DCWYW”). One of my personal favorites on the album is “I Start To Run” which sounds like The Black Keys crossed with the White Stripes and given an 8-ball of cocaine to record with; it’s speedy and off-kilter. Another, “Mirrored and Reverse” is a psychedelic journey through the canons of late-60’s pschedelia and mid-70’s blues with a light thumping bass line and guitar that slowly builds into a jam not out of place on a Zeppelin album.
The rest of the album traverses the musical universe with standouts like, “Paint Yourself”, with Americana-tinged vocals similar to M. Ward, the mellowest track on the album, and old school Mo-Town soul meets experimental jazz contributions like “I’d Have it Just the Way We Were” and “Regina Holding Hands”. And although I haven’t mentioned it, they are pretty competent lyricists as well.
With so many styles and levels to the music I often wondered how the sound translates to the live stage, because although they clearly have the energy, all too often music like this can become muddled and messy out of the confines of the studio. But fear not, Petralli’s vocals/guitar virtuosity, Block’s behind the beat drumming, and Terebecki’s thumping bass stay wildly intact under the bright lights as I witnessed this past week at the Casbah in San Diego. Hear them, see them, watch for them, because White Denim rocks.
-Zach Jaffe
