Staff Reviews

Bop English - Constant Bop

Review by Tom Fenwick

Constant Bop has an air of effortless accomplishment and fresh brilliance»

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'Constant Bop' is the debut album from Bop English, the recording name of White Denim frontman James Petralli. There's a ton to unwrap on 'Constant Bop', a record that jumps from vocoder use on a '60s-jazz influenced jam to sampled 808-kicks on country numbers. It's a rich and diverse record that's teeming with pop classicism and zippy rock 'n' roll. It's all there, and it's all distinctly James Petralli. These 10 tracks demonstrate timeless songwriting, revisiting everything from Bob Dylan and Jeff Lyne to LL Cool J and Santana for inspiration. A widely collaborative project and the result of 4 years of work, having been created in the same period of time that it took Petralli to finish two White Denim records. It is an album born of real studio magic; dozens of musicians contribute to its ten tracks including White Denim's drummer Josh Block, guitarist Austin Jenkins and bass player Steve Terebecki, as well as former Shearwater bassist Kevin Schneider. The biggest difference between Constant Bop and any White Denim record is the amount of time James spent working on it by himself. "The musicians on this record still influenced and shaped the record significantly though," he says. There are over one hundred days of studio time preciously invested in Constant Bop, which ultimately reflects in its sheer quality.
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