Indie-rock upstarts the world over should look to Arum Rae, frontwoman from Austin blues-rock duo White Dress, for tips on showmanship. At a recent performance at the beer-and-blood soaked Hole in the Wall, a venue where the jukebox refuses to play anything that ain’t sad or Cash, Rae swiveled her hips and pursed her lips, growling and smoldering around every lick and hook she choked out of her six-string.
White Dress’ live appeal has always been surrounded by the inimitable power of Rae’s singing voice and audience connection, on display even more prominently after a band restructuring. Now featuring Grant Van Amburgh on sticks as Rae’s only support the singer’s electric antics are on full display and her quiet personal demeanor belies a snarling rock goddess as she struts about the stage pummeling out careful licks with ease and poise. Burning through standouts from their new self-titled EP and ending with a haunting cover of “So Lonesome I Could Cry” Rae and Amburgh walk the line between consummate Nashville session players and underground indie wunderkinds. All in all, this is the kind of music every artsy, smoky bar should be playing religiously. Our favorite Austin band of the year! Check ‘em out at their next show, Sept. 16th at Trophy’s.
Again, sorry for no pics people, serious tech issues but do listen to White Dress! Review of their EP tomorrow!
Here’s our second installment in our ‘Versus’ video series featuring none other than local blues-rock rebel rousersWhite Dressled by the inimitableArum Rae. On Saturday Feb. 6th the crowd at Trophy’s here on South Congress in Austin, Texas was brimming with excitement – local legends like Britt Daniel of Spoon and Erika Wennerstrom of the Heartless Bastards anxiously awaited the first downbeat of the indie-up and comers White Dress whose fearsome brand of blood-in-your-spit rock and roll recalls equal parts PJ Harvey and a riot grrrl garage band.
With sexy, sultry vocals and pounding, loud-quiet-loud song structure, the band is a churning and understated as a forever burning underground gas fire – and just about as hot. Arum Rae commands attention with every slight gesture, every tilt of her guitar and snarl of her lips. With a ferocious snarl she barks and howls the lyrics and pummels her guitar with impressive flair only to return to a demure, slow burning songstress in the next beat. The understated value of White Dress is actually what can’t be overstated. The band has just enough understanding of the genre, just enough attention to detail, just enough inhibition to keep the group careening into derivativeness and instead planting them firmly on the cutting edge of punk meets blues rock and roll.
Drummer Abbey mirrors this cool collectedness, slamming down on her cymbals in one breath and effortlessly swaying her sticks to the tune of a ballad in the next. Bassist and keyboardist Chris also churns the still waters, creating a cool, dark musical surf that Rae quickly spins into whirlpools and tidal waves of fury with each breath.
Overall a fantastic show, definitely one of our favorite new bands, not only in Austin, but ever! Check out our video interview below and the band’s performance of standout track “Warranted Queen”. Get on this bandwagon before it ships out CC faithful!
