A decade on from their debut album, Texans White Denim have evolved into something of a left-field institution, pumping out wired guitar music that oscillates between exhilarating math-rock (at their most jazz) and machine funk boogie (at their most danceable). Having built their own studio, the duo of James Petralli and Steve Terebecki (plus a revolving cast of helpmeets) took stock of all their half-finished tracks for a swift follow-up to 2018’s Performance album.
Small Talk, Side Effects’ opener, is the oldest chronologically. But it sounds evergreen: a cooed garage rock vamp, complete with analogue electrocution noises. There are few genres White Denim won’t disrupt, and this wide-ranging record touches upon many of them. The hyperactive Out of Doors is an neon-tinged, finger-picking scherzo, while NY Money eventually resolves into straightforward songcraft as one of the album’s five drummers maintains a relatable time signature and prettiness abounds.
More typical of the mind games White Denim play, however, is to be found in Reversed Mirror, a choogling prog mainstay of their live sets. Fans will spot the reference to Mirrored and Reverse, a 2009 track, and 2016’s breakneck Mirrored in Reverse.
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