With a revised line up and a little help from Sam Cohen, viagra Austin, Texas progressive-garage rockers White Denim absolutely crushed a show at the Sinclair this past Friday.
A few years ago White Denim’s rise to prominence in the indie rock world was something of a buzz. 2013’s Corsica Lemonade, an album co-produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and had portions recorded at the famed Chicago loft, finally garnered them some deserving attention as one the more dynamic rock acts of the 2010’s.
Two years later, the hype around White Denim and their newest record Stiff has cooled down but very quietly they’ve continued on as one of the best live straightforward rock bands consistently touring. Stiff is more hasty but just as soulful as Corsica Lemonade and full of songs primed to be torn through in the live setting. Equipped with some fresh faces (guitarist Austin Jenkins and drummer Josh Block have taken on Leon Bridges to catapulted fame) the band was looser and more dynamic than the previous quartet, adding Mike St. Clair on keyboards, Jeff Olsen on drums and Jonathan Horne on guitar. The now five piece is still held together tightly by lead singer James Patrelli and bassist Steve Terrebecki who have also found a really special touring mate in Sam Cohen. Cohen, has not only been been billed as the opening act for the Stiff tour, has been consistently sitting in with the group since the tour started, including a late night television appearance on Jimmy Kimmel of them doing a rendition of Steely Day’s “Peg”
During Cohen’s opening set, he reminisced about some of his Boston roots. The multi-instrumentalist Berklee alum and founding member of former Boston based band Apollo Sunshine has stepped out from behind the Yellowbirds moniker to front his newest solo project. His bands sound captures much of the indie and alternative rock elements of his past bands funneled through a more ambient psychedelic lens that gives him just enough credibility to live in both the indie and jam worlds. This is where he seems comfortable and nowhere is this more evident than from his recent participation in The National’s project that recreated the music of the Grateful Dead with an indie flare. In addition, he’s also getting recent praise for the production of Kevin Morby’s latest gem Singing Saw.
Cohen’s set definitely lived up to his credentials. His songs have an ethereal vibe on straightforward garage rock songs that expand into ambient jams of layered synthesizer, delay and reverb effects all combining to show off his prowl for song structure and composition. Much like White Denim, some songs appear to be free form improvisations while others are carefully crafted straightforward rock songs. His closing number “Let the Mountain Come to You” being a combination of the two.
By the time White Denim took to the stage the nearly sold out Sinclair seemed to be brimming with Friday night excitement. The new five piece wasted no time showing off the speedy progressive rock arrangements that White Denim has become known for. The bands new configuration definitely seems to highlight Patrelli as a front-man vocalist and his soulful singing on the new tracks from Stiff is quite possibly his best vocal display to date. Bassist Terebecki was also in the forefront as an anchored veteran centerpiece whose bass playing skills are certainly fun to watch. Tracks like “Ha Ha Ha Ha, Yeah” and “Had to Know (Its Personal) from Stiff play like more polished and soulful versions of their uptempo early work. Without much a breath in between the band ripped through a sixteen song set packed with material from their decade long career. The crowd fed the most off of live staples like the rocking “I Start to Run” and the rowdy “Shake Shake Shake” but there were also plenty of dueling Allman Bros-esque guitar solos, jammy segue-ways and a few soulful ballads that mellowed people out.
However solid the regular set was the encore was truly something to behold. It kicked off with the somewhat predictable and flawless version of Steely Dan’s “Peg” with Sam Cohen back up on stage. Then as the rest of Cohen’s band made their way out, the crowd began heckle for a “Purple Rain” Prince tribute. Little did they know a Prince tribute was on the way, but not the an emotional one “Purple Rain” would invoke. Instead what they got was an absolute get down fire version of “Delirious” followed by a flawless “Controversy.” The cherry on top was an epic Cohen guitar solo from “Lets Go Crazy.” It was almost safe to say at this point that Sam Cohen’s presence not only as an opener but as a utility guest pretty much made this show exceed any normal White Denim expectations and the fact that he and White Denim both nailed this Prince covers with only a day of preparation was a testament to their musical prowl and skill.
