White Denim - Workout Holiday (Full Time Hobby)

“Never judge a book by its cover” goes the old adage, but what about albums? White Denim’s debut LP ‘Workout Holiday’ arrives on the doormat all garish colours and disembodied hands and mouths like a Picasso painting, upon an oversized cardboard wallet that physically refuses to fit into the shelves of the CD holder. Is this a sign? Going on their critical reception thus far it seems so. Having stormed this year’s SXSW festival critics were both enthralled and thrown by their experimental garage, blues, rock, compelled to utilise the ‘grog rock’ term (a combination of garage and prog rock) that drummer Josh Block had christened the band with in an attempt to define their sound. Such terms however are reductive, neglecting the full, flourishing, sometimes frustrating spectrum of ideas at work here; a veritable Pandora’s box of creativity. Opener and lead single Let’s Talk About It encapsulates, somehow, the experience of the entire album. A beautifully scuzzy riff over the thumping beat of bass and drums, so far so MC5. But two minutes in and this thrilling intensity collapses into a diffuse instrumental of feedback and effects that leaves you scratching a head that was previously banging. Heart From Us All repeats the same trick, a heartwarming, mellifluous melody the Kings of Leon would’ve been proud of that simply dwindles away as if the Texan trio simply got bored playing the same few chords. Thankfully there are enough truly great moments here to validate their indulgent playfulness. Don’t Look That Way At It begins like a jam session and builds into a raucous flurry of guitars and ghoulish screams, while Mess Your Hair Up takes you off on a wonderfully epic odyssey of influences, from Hendrix to The Velvet Underground and Pavement. Bafflingly brilliant.



ROBERT DAVINSON