live music

Venue: Ruby Lounge, Manchester
Gig played: 24 June 2009

In just three years, White Denim have gone from turning out live sets that mess with every bit of rational sense in their audiences' ears, to wowing every music mogul from every continent at this year's SXSW, to finally getting back to their own loyal fans and continuing to morph into an unexplainable, but borderline genius musical toddler.

Despite the release of their debut full-length Workout Holiday last year, trying to get a grip on separate songs during the set is beyond challenging and usually fruitless. Cowbells flow into raw garage rock, which melts into sweaty yelps of, well, every subgenre of music that's ever been placed on vinyl.

There is, then, something quite special about this band, and it doesn't matter if you understand their direction or not, it's different and exciting enough to grab your attention and force you to dance. And if the Austin trio don't stop to take a breath, why should we?

Indefinable moves can be found in the crowd among the sounds of 'Don't Look That Way At It', an Iggy-esque energy blowout that needs little definition. The instrumental '90s grunge of 'WDA' simply captures a moment; it's as if we're the very first generation to even contemplate wearing plaid. White Denim may be a literal no-go, but oh my, this incoherent fashion is a musical must-have.

Kelly Murray