White Denim Releases ‘Crystal Bullets’ Single

Today, White Denim shared the new single “Crystal Bullets” from a forthcoming 12″ vinyl release. The Austin-based quartet also unveiled a video for the new song starring fellow Austin-based musician Buffalo Hunt. “Crystal Bullets” arrives with “King Tears” on 12″ vinyl via White Denim’s English Mallard label on July 23.

Frontman James Petralli, who teamed with friends to contribute the Phish cover “Gotta Jibboo” to JamBase's Cluster Flies compilation, spoke about both “Crystal Bullets” and filming the video for the song at Austin’s the Mohawk venue in a statement.

“The music for ‘Crystal Bullets’ was inspired by the groove of the great Bernard Purdie and the signature chopped and screwed (slowed and throwed) production techniques of Houston, Texas’ Robert Davis Jr., better known as DJ Screw,” Petralli said. “The lyrics for ‘Crystal Bullets’ were written by our longtime friend and collaborator Andy Pickett. In the late nineties Andy and I spent many hours cruising around Ft. Worth in a cloud, listening to Curtis Mayfield, Arthur Lee, Daft Punk and Big Maybelle. Our years of friendship combined with our deep reverence for the masters and a willingness to try to measure up with our own work has led to another fresh piece of White Denim music that we couldn’t be more thrilled to share.”

Read Petralli’s thoughts on creating the video below:

Over the course of the last year in quarantine, I formed a fruitful creative partnership with director/writer Jeremy Cohen. When I finished Crystal Bullets/King Tears, I started kicking around video ideas with Jeremy. Now that clubs are opening again and music can be made more safely in public, it seemed only natural that we create something that reflected our own experiences with live music. The Mohawk was where it all started for White Denim. The owner James Moody coveredour rental of a tan Mountaineer to get us to our first CMJ and let us rehearse in the green room at the club before he painted it green. Without his support our story would be much different. This video is a love letter to in-person rock and roll, the Mohawk, and the incomparable feeling of catching a good band with friends.

Watch White Denim’s “Crystal Bullets” video: