White Denim - Corsicana Lemonade

White Denim’s fifth studio album offers up just about everything one could reasonably expect from White Denim’s fifth studio album. Corsicana Lemonade comes loaded with unabashed rock ‘n’ roll swagger, regularly turning back the clock to the days of Cheap Trick, Jefferson Airplane, et al. It moves, it grooves and it’s silky smooth. Occasionally, it strays from the scuzzy script but for the most part, it’s a series of throwback jams. Is that enough?
Five records in, it feels a little like regression, even for a band who pride themselves on embracing the good ol’ days with gusto. Corsicana Lemonade is oddly safe, a deliberate attempt to move away from potential adventure. ‘At Night In Dreams’ is an engaging opener, but has ‘Foo Fighters B-side’ etched all over it. ‘Corsicana Lemonade’ and ‘Limited By Stature’ barely register while straightforward tracks like ‘Come Back’ and ‘Let It Feel Good (My Eagles)’ cross the line from evoking the hazy atmosphere of a bygone era, lazy ambling into generic imitation territory.
Still, you can’t deny the hypnotic power White Denim possess when everything clicks. ‘New Blue Feeling’ is quite lovely, the right mix of homage and invention and a sweetly measured vocal from James Petralli that anchors proceedings when brief guitar indulgence creeps in. ‘Distant Relative Salute’ follows this lead admirably, ushering in a near-Delfonics strut that allows Petralli to soar without needing to showboat.
Sometimes, a sense of adventure isn’t so necessary. ‘A Place To Start’ sounds like it could have been written at the height of classic American songwriting. It’s a pensive affair that benefits from staying the course, the easy pace grounding everything, the flourishes small yet big all at once. This is what the Texans are capable of, when they’re not so in thrall to their heroes.

Key Track: 'A Place To Start'