James Petralli’s been doing this White Denim thing for a long time. The songwriter, who was an integral part of Austin’s late-2000s/early 2010s music community before heading west to Los Angeles, released his 13th album with White Denim in 2026. Aptly, it’s titled 13. Petralli has always been an adventurous and restless songwriter, incorporating elements of math rock, blues, and punk into his inimitable POV. Here, though, he gets curious in a different direction, stripping back layers of ideas in favour of something more immediate. “Chew Nails” sounds like a Canned Heat outtake, built around warbling guitar melodies and a floating woodwind accent. It’s a plea for originality, with Petralli singing, “I think you really wanna be just like them.” No one could ever accuse White Denim of being copycats. See: “That’s Rap,” on which the songwriter embraces funk and hip-hop, with Petralli unveiling his best flow.