Last Days Of Summer - White Denim Album Review

White Denim

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Album Review

Recorded at drummer Josh Block's home studio and originally offered as a free download a year ago, the Texan garage rockers White Denim have turned 'Last Days of Summer' into their second official album release of 2011.

Following on from the critically acclaimed 'D', they provide yet another collection from their repertoire that backs up their growing reputation as a band well able to flex their musical muscle across a range of genres; all of which flow with consummate ease and style.

'Incavaglia' traverses a jazz improvisation route, as similarly does complete with extended instrumental drifts, layered guitars and the guest appearance of saxophonist Alex Coke. Place this against 'Home Together'. Full of blistering guitars and indulgent harmonies that transport the listener back to the Grateful Dead/Beach Boys 60s era, or the short, but definitely very sweet R&B soul vibe of 'Shy Billy, and you see a band that is not one for being pigeon-holed.

Elsewhere, vocalist James Petralli glides over the soul-filled 'Tony Fratti' and the epic 'If You're Changing' before speeding up a notch to pack a fast-end gear change, while 'Some Wild Going Outward' heads towards country style rhythms and drums that run amok like a charge of wild horses.

All in all, 'Last Days Of Summer' is a welcome distraction to the flux of Christmas mawkish sentimentality, offered by a band not afraid to explore tonal structures and diversity. Petralli himself says he thinks it contains some of their best material: 'I listened to this record recently, and still love it.' Give it a hearing, you may well agree.

Alex Litton