07.01.08

It’s not for the cock, it’s for a hot holiday

Posted in Albums, G-Town at 6:19 pm by Gavin Williams

 

White Denim- Workout Holiday

White Denim hail from the deepest, hottest reaches of America- Austin, Texas- and create a sound which is as informed by their surroundings and heritage as Oasis were by Manchester.

Part of their sound is greasy, fag-in-mouth rawhide rock ‘n’ roll while the other half is as soulful as a blues humming chain gang.

“Let’s Talk About It” kicks off the album with swinging, hip shakin’ violence- sounding like The Hives or The Dead Kennedy’s with even more persistent groove. With songs such as “I Can Tell”, White Denim rock slowly with lo-fi retro fuzz and sound like the coolest thing in the world right now.

“Don’t Look That Way At It” takes a slightly different route from all the hair raising blues rock and, as it jerks awkwardly and uncurls into a gorgeous climax, it reveals itself to be one of the highlights of the album.

The band excel at creating a slightly disjointed, unhinged sound of jangling guitars, thumping drums and fast fuzzy guitars. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle that won’t quite fit together but makes something beautifully ugly and fucked up never the less. “Ieiei” is the perfect example- with influence from the Rolling Stones creeping in, there are dashes of hand claps here and joyous guitar there before the song swims peacefully off with arpeggio acoustic guitar and a stuttering cymbal.

White Denim don’t by any stretch of the imagination brake the mould or reinvent the wheel. They have, however, managed to scrape out a bit of room in a very retro sound to be themselves and bring a perfectly welcome breath of fresh air to 2008. Workout Holiday is an album which grows with each listen, from a primal rock ‘n’ roll affair to a beautiful and fun creation with hidden depths, and is very worth a purchase.    

Don’t Look That Way At It

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