I remember my dad wearing White Denim back in the ’80s, the legs tapering almost to points above his shoes. Hell, I probably even wore it, as trapped by my parents’ fashion sense as I was. But it went away, along with acid-wash, bell-bottoms, and the dodo long before. Now it’s back. It’s a wonderful cycle we live in.
White Denim are three cool kids from a cool city (Austin) making music that makes me feel cooler than I am. They seem to create albums backwards, which just seems like a cool thing to do. My favorite two songs from Fits wrap up the album as does my favorite track from 2008’s Explosion. It makes the albums actually build to something as opposed to disintegrating over the course of their run times. Novel, I know! Fits is definitely an intellectual, fun, indie record, guitars absolutely attacking each other between occasionally spaced-out ’60s-style vocals, frenetic drums, and knee-jerk deviations in style. It culminates in the stunning synchronicity of “Regina” and “Syncn”, straightforward and brimming with sunshine. Two moments of clarity defined by an album of wild light.
Listen:
Regina Holding Hands
Syncn
[from Fits|buy]
Sitting*
[from Explosion|buy]
*from Listening Assignments 12.28.08: “This song is more than a little like love. Immediate chemistry, inseperability (what a word!), welcome weirdness, bouncy rubber roses and chocolates, and saxophone. But then it starts to fade, often at the least expected time. And you think it’s done for good, and you wonder why it’s come to this, so soon. And then it starts to come back into view, just around the corner. You’re like magnets, pulling closer together, tearing through the walls between you. And now you’re back, baby, and it made sense all along.”
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