Indie rock bands White Denim and Plantoid have joined forces to cover two songs from the iconic British rock band, The Pretenders. The two bands have collaborated to release a double A-side single covering The Pretenders’ “Time The Avenger” and “Tattooed Love Boy.” The collaboration stemmed from a close friendship between the two bands over the past year. The bands originally met last December when Plantoid supported White Denim at Chalk in Brighton during their UK tour. Since their first meeting, the two have instantly clicked and become close collaborators. Frontman of White Denim, James Petralli loved Plantoid so much that he invited the band to support them a second time on their March UK tour. This second invitation also led Petralli to the idea of collaborating with Plantoid on a single. 

As a fan of The Pretenders, Petralli suggested the two bands cover songs from them, of which Plantoid quickly agreed. White Denim decided on The Pretenders’ “Time The Avenger” and Plantoid chose “Tattooed Love Boy.” Additionally, the bands decided to swap singers on the covers, meaning James Petralli of White Denim brought his electric voice to “Tattooed Love Boy,” while Chloe Spence of Plantoid brought her psychedelic charm to “Time The Avenger.” 

Regarding Petralli’s decision to choose The Pretenders, he stated, “I feel that the group’s tight, direct playing, their deceptively tricky arrangement choices, and Chrissy Hynde’s cutting lyricism and approach to the microphone should be essential touchstones for every rock and roll band. I suspected that Plantoid would have a similar penchant for their music and thankfully they did!” Spence added, “Being longtime fans ourselves, we were overjoyed. We decided on ‘Tattooed Love Boys’ with its raucous and punky energy, blaring guitar solo and odd time.” She continued, “We wanted to make sure the track kept its identity whilst emphasising and embellishing on the instrumentation, raw production and brisk tempo to ensure a fresh injection of Plantoid genes!” Spence also thanked Petralli for the great opportunity to cover The Pretenders with White Denim. After the perfect collaboration and impressive results, fans should not be surprised if this is only the beginning of the two indie rock bands joining creative forces!