White Denim are a Four piece (trio for this Album) Garage Rock outfit from Austin, Texas. Call them Garage Rock if you want, it's more of an Indie Rock/Post-Punk sort of sound, either way, these are genres that excite me. They touch upon Experimental Rock in some places, but in terms of originality it's very medium.
Instantly, I'm enjoying this album. The first track, 'Dont Look That Way At It' has some real attitude, the breakdown and ending of the song is something i didn't expect. In a way it has a Math Rock Feel, the opening few chords and notes sound straight out of a Maps & Atlases EP. It's a nice start for the album, but the track has little meaning or direction.
The following few tracks follow a same pattern, some nice layered vocals and decent drumming, with the electric guitar being used well, but not to a sufficient standard that i feel it should be. It could be a hell of a lot louder, this doesn't sound complete. Some of these early tracks have very smooth Math Rocky textures, but the end result is far from amazing. Nothing really makes me want to continue listening, I'm not hearing the full picture, it sounds a little unfinished and vague. Some Funk style guitar playing can be heard in places, I'm sure they must be really energetic and loud live, but on this album it's just a little too much Lo-fi.
Shake Shake Shake is the single, so to speak. It has a very enjoyable bass riff that runs through the song. Guitar work following on from the Bass, with drums keeping it rolling.
I rate the song very highly, it's certainly the peak of the album. It has been played on the radio here in the UK sometimes, i believe it was featured on an 'Indie Rock' compilation album released by NME sometime in the past few years following 2008. I can imagine this being true as the song does sound very Indie and raw. The following few tracks are very Mod like in style but don't grab my attention as much as Shake Shake Shake, which is by far the stand out and superior track on the album.
It's a weak album, with some strong tracks. Nothing amazed me other than Shake Shake Shake. I can see how they manage to have a small cult following, they have a very clean guitar sound, they just don't have the ideas to make them standout. The album sounds extremely shallow, i don't think they can improve on this, unless they drop the style and bring in some different instruments and effects to brighten up the sound.
~Eddie
7.2
