White Denim's Fits

White Denim's James Petralli gives Ragged Words a track by track guide to their new album Fits out this week and to be reviewed in the coming days.

1) Radio Milk How Can You Stand It
 
radio milk is a funny song that has been around as long as the band itself. we had always wanted to do something with it because of steve's slammin' bassline and josh's mega bashes through the first section. i recorded the vocal intro on a couple of loopers then on to my four track while we were taking a short break from working together on the record. i played it for the guys after the break and they thought it would be a hilarious intro to the record. then i took a super goof guitar solo on it and thats that. radio milk how can you stand it i cant stand it.
 
2) All Consolation
 
all consolation is a sort of rock convention about having a feeling of not belonging in rock. it was fun to jam and fairly easy to make. i like the kazoo chorus and the disjointed rhythms in the outro.
 
3) Say What You Want
 
for me, say what you want is an homage to funkadelic and the mahavishnu orchestra and jimmy page's yardbirds. this song is jammed with references to classic rock classics like carlos santana and grand funk railroad. like many songs, this song utilizes the pentatonic scale...hard. the verse is delivered from the perspective of some one who is frightened in the spotlight and really wants to hide from his work, but his heart song just wont let him. its far too powerful a heart song for the songer to keep contained within. lyrically this verse is similar to all the verses on side one. essentially, what the singer is shouting throughout this side is that he(i) is(am) a baby and he(i) totally wants(want) his(my) bottle. sick.
 
4) El Hard Attack DCWYW
 
el hard attack is a tune that parque touch wrote for white denim in two thousand and five. this is my extremely poor interpretation of some sensitive spanish language lyrics that lucas anderson (diplomat) contributed to the composition. sorry lucas. i wish we could have afforded to fly you back to austin for the sesh. (if you are reading this or aren't) i hope you are well byshie. say hi to the pres for me. this is a live recording dissected then sected. dcwyw has been included three different ways on three white denim records now. we'll get it right on the next record. the title is an acronym for donkey cow wowee yow wow. if you listen carefully you can hear clearly that these are the lyrics to the song.
 
5) I Start To Run
 
i start to run. "obvious lead single"- pro music consultant #1.
 
6) Sex Prayer
 
sex prayer was written by steve. he plays all the instruments on it except for drums and guitar. it is a personal favorite for me because steve wrote it, and i feel no embarassment whatsoever when i listen to it. the title was taken from an instructional book for christian newlyweds on how to do it right on your honeymoon.  the title has nothing to do with the music on this record, but there is some barely audible heavy breathing on the track. gross.
 
7) Mirrored and Reverse
 
mirrored and reverse is a psychedelic rock shuffle with loads of reverb and guitar and percussion overdubs. it is about not being able to relate to your own position in a drunken political conversation. you've been talking for a while and folks are listening but you don't really know what you are saying. maybe you should read more. maybe you shouldn't. the information in the books could just get in the way of all of your original thought concepts anyhow. riiiiiight?
 
8) Paint Yourself
 
whats next? paint yourself... this song has acoustic guitar in it as well as an organ solo that reminds me of the counting crows. the counting crows have always reminded me of ready for the world. ready for the world has always reminded me of chinese food. chinese food reminds me of wayne's world one and two. wayne's world one reminds me of dave matthew's band's singnature ice cream, one sweet whirled. i dont like that ice cream much. it is too busy and i am not crazee about chocolate, however i do like reznor flavored ice cream. its fantastic.
 
10) Everybody Somebody
 
everybody somebody is a tune with a message. i play it to myself every morning so i can be reminded that i am a goal driven highly motivated worker who just cant settle for less than the best. i feel like this assignment is ruining me this morning. i have not felt this uncomfortable since i attempted to recite all the adverbs in the english language in front of my seventh grade class. i failed. hard. i have smoked twelve cigarettes since i started writing this three hours ago.
 
11) Regina Holding Hands
 
regina holding hands is my favorite song on this record. it represents a huge break on through to the other side for our group. josh sings like a shit kicking angel on this track. when our mom's wanted to hear what we had been working on this last year, we sent them this tune. they were proud.
 
…and the rest, tracks 9 and 12
 
i'd have it just the way we were, syncn, and some others are also on this record. please listen to them. are you still reading this? wowzers. you are a trooper. thanks for staying in, i hope you enjoy the record we made. here is a youtube link you should click. meat falls off the bone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz1cee_94L4