UNKLE collaboration

Josh Block from White Denim to do some drumming for James Lavelle

09 July 2009 - The drummer from Texas garage-rock trio White Denim, Josh Block, is set to apply his drumming skills to some new material expected imminently from UNKLE.

Singer James Petralli from the psychedelic Texas rockers let 6 Music in on the news after they performed in the hub for George Lamb.

(Listen again here.)

"Josh is gonna go play with James Lavelle from UNKLE once the tour is concluded so I know that he’s really excited about that," he explained.

UNKLE’s last album, End Titles...Stories For Films, was put out in 2008.

When asked if Block would be playing live with Lavelle, Petralli responded: "No, no. In the studio, so I think if everything goes well he’ll be on that upcoming record."

White Denim’s second album, Fits, was released on 22 June, garnering four and five star reviews across the board.

Being more dynamic

The band performed a gig at Heaven nightclub last night (8 July), which saw the packed crowd become transformed by White Denim’s psychedelic sounds into a frenzied romp, with an unusual amount of crowd-surfing.

"It was weird and exhilarating," said the singer, about the gig. "I was really concerned for a lot of those people. I saw a guy bump his head pretty hard but yeah, it’s a lot of fun to see people getting into it."

Petralli said he’s still surprised by the warm response the band have been getting in the UK: "It’s been amazing. It’s always a surprise and it hasn’t really been that long, so it’s still pretty surreal."

"Josh [Block, drummer] is gonna go play with James Lavelle from UNKLE once the tour is concluded."
White Denim frontman

The set saw them play a couple of new tracks, which were slower and more stripped back compared with the frantic, upbeat songs they’re best known for.

Petralli said that was intentional and laughingly said: "We’re kind of trying to be a little bit more dynamic onstage.

"Doing a headline show you have a little bit more time to fill and we don’t want to just ruin people’s ears for an hour and fifteen minutes, so we’re out trying to scale it back a bit at certain points in the set. I hope it comes across."

The band are off to play a gig in Holland before spending a couple of weeks in the studio but return to the UK for Reading and Leeds festivals.

Georgie Rogers