White Denim: Fits
Format: Vinyl
Purchased: Sonic Boom
Key Tracks: Radio Milk, Say What You Want, All of Side 2 in its entire heavenly glory
Magicians! Wizards! Spellbinders! Four Horsemen! Well, at the time of this release, three! White Denim are a musical experience unlike any other. I have had the pleasure of seeing these cats play live twice; once as a trio and once as a foursome. As a trio, they reminded me of Cream, playing above the sonic pain threshold, cascading into my eardrums with a fierceness not previously considered. As a foursome, they yielded no quarter, ascending into some sort of jam netherworld, catching an unseen wave and disappearing into an intimate ether they were generous enough to share with their audience.
Why this band isn’t one of the world’s most successful is quite beyond me. Catch ‘em if you can…
Fits, their 2009 album, is by far the best of a pretty uniformly awesome lot. The band makes mush out of time signatures, finding grooves in the unlikeliest places; picking up your feet and dragging them onto the floor, setting your heels ablaze and punching your soul straight in the guts. As musicians, they are each masters of their instrumental crafts. They don’t quite play so much as they commit organized instrumental chaos to tape. As songwriters, they dance from the Allman’s to Carol King; from Green to Gaye…Soulful styles, sung with smiles…Laughs, plenty of sunshine amongst the floating clouds.
Side two is a generous gift from the muse: grin a little as you listen, smile a lot as you close your eyes and feel it…
The album peaks with “Regina Holding Hands”, a song so gorgeous that it hits that tender spot, the musical sweet spot right up there, in the corner pocket of your soul. The only flaw with the tune is that it could easily have gone on for a little longer and not even remotely overstay its welcome. The closing track, “Syncn” weaves in and out of a pan fried desert haze, sounding like some hazy heroin trip; beyond tears, before crashing headlong into its “lalalala-la-la-lalala” crescendo.
This band has jammed its way into my whole being. They bring their gifts all the way from Austin Texas but have rocked out my living room on a thousand different occasions. Let them do the same for you. You think you know magic, but you really don’t.
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