Exposion by White Denim
LABEL: EM/Tunecore

White Denim’s Exposion is definitely strange breed: it exudes a 60’s guitar-pop vibe in some ways, but the emphasis of this Austin, Texas trio is as much on rock as it is on texture and experimentation. The use of loops and odd song structures keeps it far from feeling formulaic, which gives them an edge over other “indie” bands. With a funky bass, jangly guitar, and steady drums, they manage to have a unique sound, despite somewhat standard instrumentation.

This album has almost no regard for convention. Exposion hits you over the head with the angular opening track “Don’t Look That Way At It,” and walks away like nothing happened. The vibe of the whole album is very quirky and dismissive, and yet, somehow they also find time to write rockin’ tracks like “Transparency.” James Petralli’s vocals shine on this album, both quirky and soulful at the same time, ranging from a crooning chest voice on “Transparency” to a soaring howl on “All You Really Have To Do”. The lyrics are secondary to the vocals; the singing is just another part of the music in many of the tracks.

There’s a small amount of diversity here, with acoustic guitars featured heavily on "All Truckers Roll" and "Migration Wind," the latter almost done in the style of a jam band. This doesn’t save the music from becoming stale after a while, however. This album is a good study in sound, but none of the songs hook in you in long enough for another go-around.

REVIEWED BY PATRICK PALADINO