White Denim – Fits
White Denim are the latest American indie buzz band to emerge with a shedload of hype. Following their well-received debut Workout Holiday comes Fits. To say that they were just a blues-influenced rock band would be simplifying it as they take influences from psychedelic rock, jazz and a whole load of other genres. It’s why critics are going crazy about them. I should know because the queue for their Great Escape show last month was just insane.
If you look at the album artwork it shows a collection of random objects strewn around in different places, and it is a good reflection the music. Fits is essentially an album that is freewheeling over the course of its thirty seven minute running time in a way that is pretty damn psychedelic. Opening song Radio Milk How Can You Stand is a solid start that promises a stoner paradise but actually is a red herring, as the record just doesn’t hit all the right buttons. It’s an album of two halves really – the first being quite blurred and disjointed and the second sounding a lot more focused.
It is indeed after the unsatisfactory openings that highlights appear – songs like the frenetic I Start To Run and the trance-inducing Mirrored And Reversed that give you an insight into what White Denim can achieve. The fact that not a lot of attention is paid to the voice of James Petralli, their singer, is an interesting one since I think his vocals are damn fine on most of the songs he does contribute to.
So, to summarise, this album was one that I just can’t embrace as a whole. I’ve tried to let it grow on me but it just hasn’t clicked at all. The problem is that Fits is just far too freewheeling and far too loose (make your own ‘loose fit’ joke, should you so wish) for its own good. It’s a record that is frustrating because you can see some of the glimmers of brilliance but those glimmers are not sustained over an entire album. Get past all the clutter and fans should be in for a treat, but the clutter itself isn’t going to win over any of the doubters. If things do suddenly ‘fit’ into place for me (see what I did there? Etc etc.), I’ll let you know but for now this is just messy for me.
RATING – 3/5
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Posted on June 24th, 2009 by Max
Filed under: Albums, Reviews
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