Stiff (album)
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''Stiff'' is the seventh studio album by the band
White Denim White Denim is an American rock band from Austin, Texas, United States. Their music is influenced by dub, psychedelic rock, blues, punk rock, progressive rock, soul, jazz, experimental rock with home-based recording, jamming approach, intense ...
. It is their first release following the departure of drummer Josh Block and guitarist Austin Jenkins, who left in March 2015 to work on Leon Bridges' debut album ''Coming Home''. Jonathan Horne and Jeff Olson have joined the band after touring with James Petralli on his solo project Bop English. ''Stiff'' was released on March 25, 2016, by Downtown Records.


Background

"I wanted to treat this like a debut record. The band’s still called White Denim and it is because that’s what we’re calling it, essentially, but I definitely felt like we needed to go back-to-basics. It was like we write the tunes, rehearse them for a week or two weeks – we didn’t do a lot pre-production – then just bang it out. It was the first time to go in with a producer from the beginning of a record and finish with a producer as well."
— James Petralli, frontman


Release and promotion


Singles

* "Holda You (I'm Psycho)" — The first single was released along with the album announcement. Art Levy of
NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...
said that the song "simultaneously struts and sprints". * "Ha Ha Ha Ha (Yeah)" — Petralli mentioned
Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...
as an influence behind the
soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
sound of the track, mentioning – "It really started with me, sitting in my garage, playing around with ''Pusherman''. R&B, in general, is where it’s at for me." * "Had 2 Know (Personal)"


Reception

''Stiff'' was released on March 25, 2016, on Downtown Records. Mark Demig, who reviewed the album for
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
said "The edgy energy that's long been the band's trademark is present in abundance here, which is welcome news since ''Stiff'' debuts a new White Denim lineup." and added that "The tone here is frequently playful, especially when Petralli lets his blue-eyed soul accents come forth. But the attack is taut and the force of this music is no joke."
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
give the album three out of five stars, concluding " he groupwear their virtuosity proudly and with each album their brand of bluesy, Southern-style boogie-woogie becomes less obscured by experimentation, although whether or not that’s a good thing is a moot point. This is certainly the kind of music punk had to be invented for."
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
awarded Stiff four out of five stars, praising the soul influence on the songwriting – "Live, they may make your knees shake like
Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...
, but on record the musicianship often eclipses the songs, resulting in a lack of truly memorable bangers. 'Corsicana Lemonade''went some way towards changing that, but on their seventh, the Ethan Johns-produced ''Stiff'', they’ve nailed it by embracing soul – or rather, running into its syrupy-sweet waters."


Accolades


Track listing


Personnel


White Denim

* James Petralli – vocals and guitar * Steve Terebecki – bass, group vocals, synthesizer * Jonathon Horne – guitar, group vocals * Jeff Olson – drums, percussion, synthesizer, group vocals


Live

* Mike St. Clair – trumpet, synthesizer


Additional personnel

*Ethan Johns – producer


Charts


Appearances

"Ha Ha Ha Ha (Yeah)" was featured in the reveal trailer for the
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
.


References

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Jeff Tweedy Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, singer songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, began his music care ...
2016 albums White Denim albums Downtown Records albums Albums produced by Ethan Johns