CORSICANA LEMONADE, DOWNTOWN MUSIC
Austin, Texas’s smoothest psych rock outfit, White Denim, returns with Corsicana Lemonade, a sun-speckled vacation for winter-weary ears. The fifth studio album from these folked-up jam junkies displays evidence of considerable artistic growth and the conquest of introspective songwriting summits. Bold and refreshing, Corsicana Lemonade effectively bottles the heady rambles and unfettered frenzies of their previous effort, the effervescent D. Opening the proceedings with “At Night in Dreams,” a self-assured White Denim busts out a fat-bottomed boogie that would have Janis Joplin storming the stage to get a piece of the action. Streetwise yet organic anthems are perfectly stewarded forth by vocalist/guitarist James Petralli’s bluesy wails. Soaring over Woodstock-inspired sonic vistas, Petralli’s soulful intonations conjure images of the Gibb brothers locked in mortal combat with My Morning Jacket’s Tom “Two-Tone Tommy” Blankenship. Deliberately sculpted pieces, like the syncopated ditty “Limited by Stature” and the orchestral romp “New Blue Feeling,” offer a more measured version of the easy-breezy sound we’ve come to expect from the free-spirited quintet. Swept along in a current of rock-steady vibrations, tracks like “Let It Feel Good” and “Pretty Green” pass by all too quickly as Corsicana Lemonade runs its frothy course in ten toe-tapping reveries. Still retaining White Denim’s electrified aura, this latest effort dives deeper into the band’s country font and serves up some toothsome down-home numbers that have more meat on the bone than your average pair of iridescent butterfly wings.
By Christine Leonard
BeatRoute Magazine 