Texas-based trio White Denim have been riding high on the hype machine for a few months now and with anticipation reaching fever pitch the time has come to see what all the fuss has been about with the release of the album, Workout Holiday.Opener and former single 'Let's Talk About It' rattles around at a rollicking pace with a killer riff, but after two minutes it reverts into a random mix of guitar noodlings and stop start rhythms that goes on for just too long. So what could've been up there with single of the year just transcends into a bit of wankery that could easily have been avoided. 'Shake, Shake, Shake', again with rather sporadic guitar FX and riffs, like unabashed schizophrenic ticks and mannerisms, reminds me a little of the sheer rawness that Be Your Own Pet showed off on their debut.James Petralli has a really engaging, bluesy voice that sits perfectly in the mix and takes on a whole new soulfulness on 'Sitting' as a piano-led opening gives way to danceable guitar in one of the more straight forward tracks on the album. Others like the brilliant 'Mess Your Hair Up' go off on different tangents like they've ripped up the song plan a third of the way through and then thought "hang on, lets go this way with it instead", changing direction again and it works. Also, I think it's a bit hasty to pigeon-hole them into just garage-rock as the touching 'Heart From Us All' points to hidden depths.With two instrumentals in the second half of the record, you could be forgiven for thinking that White Denim were running out of ideas but, 'WDA' especially has plenty to keep you interested and with album highlight ,the joyous chaos of 'Darkside Commuter Mouth' and 'Don't Look That Way At It' wedged either side, they are still going strong by the end.At less than 40 minutes long this is technically quite a short album but somehow I think it drags a little. Maybe the tone was set when 'Let's Talk About It' was at least a minute too long but even though most tracks are short and punchy, I had my fill by the time it was over. That said, this is a cracking album and one that won't just be sitting pretty in your collection impressing your friends. This is a rare case where the hype is justified. 87%[Download Workout Holiday]Links White Denim [official site] [myspace] [20 questions]