White Denim

White Denim: “Crystal Bullets”

Along with Spoon and Shakey Graves, White Denim is arguably one of Austin’s most recognizable offspring. The locally-dyed four-piece has continued to spin their refreshingly unique cuts of rock since their 2008 debut Workout Holiday, taking the finest yarns of blues, jazz, prog, punk, and dub and weaving them into extremely catchy, non-traditional songs. We named White Denim our March 2016 Artist of the Month, right around the same time they released their seventh LP Stiff, and the subsequent use of their single “Ha Ha Ha Ha Yeah” in Nintendo Switch’s reveal trailer invited these Studio 1A veterans into the international zeitgeist.

Last year’s World as a Waiting Room marked album number ten in White Denim‘s discography, and yet, the group had never issued a 12-inch…until now. This Friday White Denim drops Crystal Bullets/King Tears, issued on limited edition red & blue vinyl, something that complements the delightful polarity of White Denim’s genre influences, best heard on the record’s psych-rock-meets-rhythm-and-blues A-side, “Crystal Bullets”!

Texas Standard: April 17, 2020

In the great tourist towns of Texas, it’s far from fun and games this weekend. From the Gulf Coast, Hill Country and Big Bend, how tourist towns are coping with COVID-19. Plus a double hit to small businesses in Texas’ already economically disadvantaged latino communities. And you’ve got questions? Dr Fred Campbell’s got answers. Our go to expert from UT Health San Antonio fields listener concerns about the Coronavirus. Plus a Texas salute to American singer songwriter John Prine. Those stories plus the week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: March 31, 2020

On the front lines in the war against COVID-19: how the fight is playing out in rural Texas, and the potential health crisis few are talking about. We’ll have the latest. Also, Texas counts! We all know that, right? But many worry that Texas might miss out on an important tally that could cost Texas more than just hundreds of millions of dollars, we’ll explain. And how to make sense of Coronavirus case counts. Plus where do doctors turn for medical supplies? How the current crisis may force a rethink of the healthcare supply chain. Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

This Song: James Petralli of White Denim // Bayonne

Songs can serve as musical touchstones that we return to when we want to remind ourselves what we want music to be. For White Denim’s James Petralli, that song is the Grateful Dead’s “That’s It For the Other One,” which helped him realize how he wanted to approach both the guitar and recording. With the song as a starting point, Petralli goes on to explain why drummers are the most important members of the band, why all musical expression is valid and what it was like to record the bands’s new record “Stiff” with Ethan Johns.

Then Bayonne explores how The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” showed him how powerful openness and vulnerability in music could be and explains how he approached his new record “Primitives” with that same openness.

Watch White Denim perform “Ha Ha Ha Ha Yeah” on VuHaus

Check out White Denim’s Tour Dates

Watch Bayonne, who previously went by the name Roger Sellers, perform “Waves” from him new record “Primitives” Live in Studio 1A.

Check out Bayonne’s Tour Dates

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Listen to the songs featured in episode 33 of This Song.