Workout Holiday

One of the summers most talked about bands fresh from whipping up a storm on the festival circuit, Texan trio White Denim release their debut LP Workout Holiday which has received almost unanimous praise from the music press and it’s easy to see why. On paper, White Denim appear to be the real deal. They have cultivated a loyal fan base through incessant touring and high energy shows, they are entertaining interviewees and their riff heavy, scuzzy garage rock is a welcome antidote to the multitude of mellow folk-rock bands that are appearing these days. But that’s on paper. On record do they live up to the hype? Unfortunately the answer is no.

Despite being from the South, their sound borrows heavily from east coast and Detroit bands like the Stooges and MC5 as well loaded era Velvet Underground. Unfortunately a lot of the time they appear to borrow a little too heavily. You could be forgiven for thinking ‘All You Really Have to Do’ is an MC5 cover and ‘W.D.A.’ bears more than a passing resemblance to ‘Teenage Riot’ by Sonic Youth. And therein lies the main problem with the album. There isn’t really a weak song on it but you can’t help get the feeling you’ve heard it all before. Almost every track on the album sounds like someone else.

Had this album been released a few years ago alongside two far superior garage rock debuts the Strokes’ ‘Is This It’ and Black Rebel Motorcycle Clubs self titled LP, Workout Holiday might not have got the attention it’s getting today. Perhaps it’s unfair to judge a band on the hype that surrounds them, after all it isn’t the band themselves that are writing the fawning reviews. So strip away all the superlatives and what are you left with? A solid if uninspiring debut and until they find their own sound, White Denim may just end up as another bunch of run of the mill garage rock imitators.