White Denim – D

White Denim have always seemed better in theory than in practice. Omnivorously squeezing as many diverse influences as possible into every track, the Austinites have produced intermittently excellent records, but their genre infidelity has fatigued as often as it has invigorated. D makes few concessions, yet comes closer than ever to matching outcome with promise.

At the Farm and Street Joy offer a representative one-two: the former a prog instrumental replete with galloping solos; the latter a gently-soaring ballad. Anvil Everything is even more representative, cramming the same degree of variety into one four-minute trip: Marnie Stern meets Muse at the beginning; a boisterous Ponytail-esque middle; with a thickly-grooved coda. Yet while the recipe might seem faultless, the proof is in the pudding, and somehow all this inventiveness, once again, fails to produce the expected highs – but there's a lot of fun to be had in the middle register. [Chris Buckle]