White Denim pours a cup of “Corsicana Lemonade”

By Alyssa Gradias |Staff Writer|

White Denim released their fifth studio album, Corsicana Lemonade, Oct. 29.

They are a four-piece, indie-rock band with a variety of music influences from blues, psychedelic rock, punk rock and soul.

The band formed in 2005 and have been banging out EPs and full albums ever since.

Corsicana Lemonade focuses on the aspect of growing older yet still trying to figure things out, reflecting the just-turned thirty year olds’ outlook on life and where it is going.

For example, lead James Petralli sings, “I know you think that it’s easy to change, but it’s a symptom of age,” reflecting their coming-of-age stage.

This album is a bit different from their trademark garage-rock.

It has more of a direct songwriting sound mixed with classic rock. Some may even want to compare White Denim to the early work of the Black Keys after taking a listen.

White Denim shows off their talent with creative guitar riffs, melody changes and unpredictable song structure.

The opening track, “At Night in Dreams” has upbeat, heavy guitar riffs and solos throughout the track. It gives it that youthful rock energy that gets your feet tapping and head shaking.

Title track, “Corsicana Lemonade” is a bit harder to understand as far as lyrics.

The lyrics in this track are sung in a breathy tone making it a little harder to comprehend what the song is about.

Although you can’t understand the singer, it is still a good track to vibe to on a great afternoon.

Another ear-catching track, “New Blue Feeling” is one of their bluesier tracks showing off the bands soulful side.

It has relaxing guitar solos that aren’t overwhelming or overbearing, highlighting front-man James Petralli’s raw vocals.

One of the bands highlighted tracks, “Come Back” is another blues track with some rock riffs throughout.

Listener Josh Kelly expressed his love for this track, “There’s so much packed into this one track, yet it stays compact, incredibly lively, and fun.”

Aside from the fact that White Denim shows off their musically talented ability, Corsicana Lemonade lacks that “wow” factor.

The guitar solos and bluesy toned drums are great, but it doesn’t make the album obsessive worthy where you’re going to be listening to it over and over again in your car.

What is refreshing though, is that the album isn’t so abrasive as past albums.

Even as the band members reached their thirties, they were still capable of tapping into some youthful energy to make some exciting tunes that aren’t so overwhelming as other freshly new bands that try and stuff everything into one track.

White Denim keeps it short and sweet, yet giving listeners the right amount of their rock, bluesy taste, leaving the run time of the album to only 38 minutes.

This would be a great album to slap on while doing some cleaning or background music while entertaining some friends to keep the mood light and upbeat.

White Denim display a great amount of growth with each release making Corsicana Lemonade the top album of their career.