Who: Garage-rock trio White Denim, an Austin outfit whose frontman, James Petralli, nearly followed his family into a career in professional baseball, but turned to rock when he got busted for too much partying.
Sounds Like: On their loud and raw EP Let's Talk About It, which was written and recorded in a 1940s Spartan trailer, the band combines the Stooges' raw power, Hendrix's psychedelic flourishes and the White Stripes' stripped-down blues rock.
Three Things You Should Know:
- Petralli and drummer Joshua Block once performed in a noise-rock group called Parque Touch, who became infamous among Austin crowds as the band that stole beers out of the hands of fans in the front row.
Petralli's literary lyrics are inspired by the poetry of Gertrude Stein. Songs like "Sitting" especially tap into language experiments. "Some of Stein's writing lends itself to music," says Petralli, who penned the line "I would rather be you sitting with you sitting with me."
Petralli's grandfather was a catcher for the Washington Senators, a team that later became the Texas Rangers and drafted catcher Gino Petralli, James' father. Major league teams are also scouting Petralli's brother. Block's grandfather, interestingly enough, was also a player on the Senators. Bassist Steve Terebecki lacks a baseball pedigree.
Get It: The band's debut EP Let's Talk About It is available on iTunes. Click the video above to check out the band's video for its title track.
Watch every episode of our weekly New Breaking Artist video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Wednesday, an exclusive video profile of an emerging artist will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don’t have iTunes, download it here.]
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Teddy Long | March 1, 2008 6:16 AM
This is the best new music i've heard for years.
raw garage rock'n'roll!
INDIE REVOLUTION | February 20, 2008 6:54 PM
This band rock!
ryan rooney | February 13, 2008 2:21 AM
that's what is being awesome.
kendal | February 7, 2008 10:32 PM
jay bird. heh.
drummin' bush | February 7, 2008 2:41 AM
unfreakin' believable...i still have a copy of funk yard...i wonder what i could sell it for??? just kiddin' james. this band is the shiz and thats for riz!!! keep it comin' boys
chris m.f. edwards | February 2, 2008 10:45 PM
Saw this article the other day, and said to myself, "self, they will just about put anybody in the ol' Rolling Stone these days," but seriously, White Denim whips a mule's ass, in the words of Wesley Willis, and Jimbo--you are one talented sonofagun. I remember hearing an acoustic version of "Let's Talk About It" about two years ago at good ol' Rita's (miss that place) in Nac, and thought, "God damn, this is a HIT."
Good job.
-c.e.
crunkenstein | January 30, 2008 7:57 PM
regarding purchasing their EP: I think you can still buy it through a link off of their myspace page (but that may just be on vinyl) at www.myspace.com/bopenglish, just click on an the lips icon.
But other than that, they're pretty friendly dudes, so you probably just email them about it at whitedenimmusic@gmail.com.
Dale Greene | January 30, 2008 4:19 PM
I've known you and your family since you were 5 years old and always knew you were going to make it big.
Good Job, James
big fan | January 30, 2008 12:46 PM
Fantasic Photo, need to use that photographer more often!
Jonah | January 30, 2008 12:13 PM
Great Video, and amazing sound but I don't have Itunes and was wondering if anyone knew of another way of getting a hold of their ep
Colin | January 29, 2008 10:16 PM
That has got to be the best band photo I've ever seen! Great band...looking forward to hearing some more of their stuff!!
AGC | January 29, 2008 4:54 PM
That photo rocks!
charlie hough | January 29, 2008 1:56 PM
Best band in the world
Gripwood Boudindick | January 29, 2008 10:43 AM
What kind of music do you call this?. It's dirty and entertaining it. I love it. Why are all the good bands from Austin?
b H | January 29, 2008 12:42 AM
that photo is awesome!!!!!!!!
bury me all the time | January 28, 2008 2:19 AM
white denim, i think i love you.
Dario Riveros | January 27, 2008 10:39 PM
Aweeeeeeeeeeeeeeesome ! very good video..guys keep up the great work.
Nicole Anzola | January 27, 2008 9:44 PM
Awesome video!!!!! very proud of my cousin carlos and good job in the acting alexito!! very kool video! :)
Matt Bartell | January 27, 2008 7:57 PM
Good stuff. I saw the video on ME tv station in Austin.
David Anzola | January 27, 2008 2:06 PM
haha that's a badass video and by the way, I'm proud to say that it was produced and directed by my cousin, Carlos LaRotta. And my other cousin, Alex LaRotta (his brother), also acted in this video as the car wash worker that rides with the driver in the end. Good job guys!
BMC | January 25, 2008 2:20 PM
wowzerz that video goes harder than blood diamonds on James Brown's corpse...hoorah
Kristin Finan | January 25, 2008 4:12 AM
wow. that video is awesome!
Rob Senska | January 25, 2008 2:58 AM
Wow, the video is on RS. I'm proud to say I worked on this great video. I hope for more unique videos for these guys.
Jedi olivia | January 25, 2008 2:55 AM
love every piece of this video, fun.
jp walters | January 24, 2008 7:09 PM
saw that video the other day. Very weird -but, very cool- video choice. White Denim is proving to be quite the band. Great music.
Conor McGuire | January 24, 2008 10:09 AM
Hot damn, finally something worth listening to.
Greg Martin | January 24, 2008 10:00 AM
Damn I have been waiting to hear new music like this
Charlie Horse | January 23, 2008 9:17 PM
I've been following this band for quite sometime, thanks to tips from Gorilla Vs. Bear and Aquarium Drunkard. This Rolling Stone mention should break this band wide. I bought the ITUNES EP and i've been obsessed since. Thanks White Denim!
Fueled By Randy | January 23, 2008 7:44 PM
They aren't that bad but I have a question for the powers behind this here section, are we ever going to see some hip hop artists or r&b; artists being "Broken"? I'd definitely like to see some diversity.