SXSW Break Out: White Denim

White Denim @ The Hot Freaks - I Totally Stole This Photo From GorillaVsBear [MP3] White Denim - shakeshakeshake In my last few hours at SXSW I stumbled across White Denim. I heard "shakeshakeshake" on the net months ago, but never really paid much attention to it. It's a rough recording and the vocals are a little weird. Still, Chris at GvB was ADAMANT I give them a shot. He has been singing their praises for months. It wasn't until I experienced their exuberant live show first hand that I fully understood Chris' enthusiasm. White Denim hit the indoor stage at The Mohawk just after 1:30 PM for The Hot Freaks. The room was packed with an assortment of press, bloggers, industry professionals, local hipsters, and JOCKS. The 3 piece freaking SLAYED it with a style I have never seen before. I'm finding myself having a hard time putting in words exactly how freaking great they were. White Denim were part classic rock, part jangly indie pop, part noise, part sing along, part incoherent babbling, and totally insane. The band had unbelievable banter which continued into well into their songs making their performance feel like one long conversation/jam session in which the audience was totally involved. Their set was unique, compelling, and for lack of a better word: AWESOME. You can listen to more tracks on the band's myspace page. The Helio Sequence Tonight I'm going to try and see The Helio Sequence at The Echo. I have been a die hard fan for ages. Word on their street is their new record is nearing completion. I am beyond excited! TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES: [JAX PICK] The Helio Sequence, Dirty On Purpose, The Besnard Lakes @ The Echo [JAX PICK] The Electric Soft Parade, The Explorers Club, Goldrush @ Club Spaceland [JAX PICK] Scanners @ Ground Zero, USC Sondre Lerche @ El Rey Theatre Leslie & the LY's @ Hammer Museum Radars To The Sky, The Press Fire @ Silverlake Lounge [JAX PICK] Charlie Wadhams & The Harmony Brothers, Mike Andrews, Willoughby @ Bordello I Am X, The Mulhollands @ Safari Sam's Greg Laswell, Daniel Cirera, Bejole, The Brian Summers Band, Lovers Electric @ Hotel Cafe [JAX PICK] The Bravery, Foreign Born @ Troubadour Fortune's Flesh, Shortstack, These United States, Civet @ The Scene Dub Club @ The Echo Plain White T's @ House of Blues Sunset KFLA & JT Present...Storm Large & The Balls, The Oohlas, I-94 (acoustic) @ Knitting Factory, Front Room Tin Panda Presents Get Back Loretta, The City Drive, Fletch @ Knitting Factory, Alterknit The Whigs, Birds of Avalon, Hodges, Renegade Five @ The Viper Room Blowupnihilist, Vaginals, Whitman,Vomit bomb, Clinging To The Trees Of A Forest Fire @ Il Corral Alexandria Georgiodis, Cathy Heller, Kye' @ Tangier 826 LA Benefit: Ben Lee & More @ Largo Reverend Dave, Warlords of Rock n Roll Lighting & Thunder, DJ Carlisle @ Mr Ts Bowl