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A Beginner’s Guide to… White Denim

Thomas Athey reflects on White Denim's output

Much of White Denim’s ambitious musical project is summed up in their name, a fashion style determined to put a new twist on the comfortable and familiar denim we all know and love by colouring it in white, giving it an element of class and sophistication. The band’s music works the same way, taking traditional Southern guitar blues rock, but then adding a unique overlay of prog and funk that turns the familiar into something else entirely.

This electric combination is the perfect soundtrack for the approach of summer, with the band’s back catalogue containing albums such as Corsicana Lemonade and Workout Holiday that continue that theme.

Not only this, but the band embodies summer simply because they sound like they’re having so much fun. Queue up one of their albums and you feel an irresistible tug upwards at the corners of your mouth, as they channel their Texas style cheer through their records. Live too, it is rare to see a band who are clearly enjoying themselves so much; when I saw the band in Newcastle their constant good cheer almost defied belief.

Spanning such a wide variety of musical genres, kept fresh by having a constantly changing line up, while also having a seemingly bottomless source of enthusiasm, White Denim fulfil all the criteria for a band that will continue to delight for years to come

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