Taking it easy doesn't seem to come naturally to White Denim. They've been an ongoing concern only since 2007, yet they already have five LPs and just as many EPs (and a handful of singles) to their credit. However, unlike other similarly prolific acts like Guided by Voices or Thee Oh Sees, where the energy to write and record all those songs doesn't necessarily find itself reflected in the actual music, White Denim's material more than reflects the speed with which it was released. It's only fitting one of their earlier full-lengths was titled Fits.
It's not just that the band itself often seems eager to stuff as many notes as possible into every moment of every song, but that the songs themselves are filled to the brim with tempo shifts and nods to different kinds of music-- and all these ideas that just seem to pour out of the band. Even as the group's brand of psychedelica has grown from its garagey roots into something more expansive and jammy, that frenetic energy hasn't ebbed. For the most part, White Denim succeed with this full-steam-ahead tack, though the generosity of creative spirit (and the high-speed fashion in which said spirit is imparted onto the listener) might seem exhausting as often as it does exhilarating. What makes Takes Place in Your Work Space a welcome addition to the burgeoning White Denim discography is its road-not-taken approach. This EP might be the most relaxed the band has ever been on record.
Of course, I am talking in terms of the group, not what most folks consider "relaxed." When "Cat City" starts up, the guitar and drums kick into high gear as if it's business as usual. Despite how that may sound, the song itself is sedate, thanks in no small part to subtle, backward guitar loops and James Petralli's easygoing vocals. Elsewhere on the EP, the band uses similar tactics and arrangements to take the edge off. On "Handwriting", the contrast to the main group's hustle is provided by a string section, some nicely pitched background vocals, and a little pedal steel. For "Company", it's Petralli's falsetto (at times sounding a lot like Andrew Bird's) that does the job, though nicking the gait and melody from Love's "Alone Again Or" doesn't hurt. The EP's best track, "No Real Reason", is similarly beholden to its possible source material-- LCD Soundsystem fans might hear more than a passing resemblance to "Never as Tired..."-- but White Denim's homage (inadvertent or otherwise) is wholly successful, showing the group can slow its roll without losing its sense of direction or purpose.
More heartening than that minor revelation is the EP's overall cohesion. Being only four tracks long goes a long way toward maintaining a release's integrity and focus, but unlike other White Denim albums-- which contain some great-sounding, highly dissimilar tracks that just happen to be sharing the same space-- the songs on Takes Place complement each other and sound like they belong together. If there's been any tool missing from White Denim's warehouse-sized arsenal, it's this sort of ability to mete their boundless creativity with a sense of consistency and cohesion.
