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Stiff is the seventh studio album by the band White Denim. It is their first release following the departure of drummer Josh Block and guitarist Austin Jenkins, who left in March 2015 to work on Leon Bridges' debut album Coming Home. Jonathan Horne and Jeff Olson have joined the band after touring with James Petralli on his solo project Bop English. Stiff was released on March 25, 2016, by Downtown Records.
Background
"I wanted to treat this like a debut record. The band’s still called White Denim and it is because that’s what we’re calling it, essentially, but I definitely felt like we needed to go back-to-basics. It was like we write the tunes, rehearse them for a week or two weeks – we didn’t do a lot pre-production – then just bang it out. It was the first time to go in with a producer from the beginning of a record and finish with a producer as well."
— James Petralli, frontman
Release and promotion
Singles
"Holda You (I'm Psycho)" — The first single was released along with the album announcement. Art Levy of NPR Music said that the song "simultaneously struts and sprints".
"Ha Ha Ha Ha (Yeah)" — Petralli mentioned Curtis Mayfield as an influence behind the soul sound of the track, mentioning – "It really started with me, sitting in my garage, playing around with Pusherman. R&B, in general, is where it’s at for me."
Stiff was released on March 25, 2016, on Downtown Records. Mark Demig, who reviewed the album for AllMusic said "The edgy energy that's long been the band's trademark is present in abundance here, which is welcome news since Stiff debuts a new White Denim lineup." and added that "The tone here is frequently playful, especially when Petralli lets his blue-eyed soul accents come forth. But the attack is taut and the force of this music is no joke." NME give the album three out of five stars, concluding " wear their virtuosity proudly and with each album their brand of bluesy, Southern-style boogie-woogie becomes less obscured by experimentation, although whether or not that’s a good thing is a moot point. This is certainly the kind of music punk had to be invented for." The Guardian awarded Stiff four out of five stars, praising the soul influence on the songwriting – "Live, they may make your knees shake like Robert Plant, but on record the musicianship often eclipses the songs, resulting in a lack of truly memorable bangers. went some way towards changing that, but on their seventh, the Ethan Johns-produced Stiff, they’ve nailed it by embracing soul – or rather, running into its syrupy-sweet waters."
