If you’re a savvy, NME-reading Anglophile, then chances are you already know all about Whitey, as his debut album, The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is A Train, was given the “next big thing” treatment by the UK press when it was released overseas last year. Well thankfully for us Yanks, party dude/shrewd businessman Steve Aoki has licensed this record for domestic release via his own star-launching label, Dim Mak Records.
As the spot on Dim Mak’s roster might indicate, this is hipster music, the kind that will fill up the dance floor with beautiful, fashion conscious scensters… and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Those dirty party kids have a knack for finding dance music that reaches beyond the bloops and blips of IDM or the repetitive thump thump of techno - music that bridges the gap between the indie rock aficionado and the club kids. Whitey does exactly that. The electronic infused rock music is gritty, not over-produced and has an air of “realness” that like-minded acts have a hard time pulling off without sounding contrived or passe.
Falling somewhere between Tom Vek and LCD Soundsystem, Whitey seems to have the potential to break out of the hipster set and encroach upon a more main stream audience. Catchy and melodic, songs like “Intro/In The Limelight,” “Y.U.H.2.B.M.2″ and “Non Stop” are “cool” enough to maintain a semblance of street cred, yet sound enough like Beck to have the masses shaking their collective ass… that is, considering the masses ever get the chance to actually hear it.
The one track that should really be able to launch Whitey into the collective consciousness is “Leave Them All Behind.” Undeniably infectious, this track explodes with enough energy and excitement to single handedly catapult Whitey to stardom and give Steve Aoki the next jewel in his crown.
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