The White Stripes

Albums Reviewed

The White Stripes (1999)
De Stijl (2000)
White Blood Cells (2001)
Elephant (2003)

The White Stripes

(1999)
There have been plenty of examples throughout the history of popular music of stripping away the superfluities and getting back to basics - the singer-songwriters of the early seventies and punk are only two of the most obvious examples - but it doesn't get much more basic than Detroit's The White Stripes. Dispensing even with a bass player, the invented brother and sister duo (formerly married if popular conjecture is true) delivers emotional, blues-inflected rock. It's rare to encounter a musical duo with an even greater talent imbalance than Simon and Garfunkel, but it's the case here. Jack White is full of charisma, his vocals even occasionally reminiscent of a young Robert Plant, and is a talented guitarist and writes all the songs. Sister Meg bashes away primitively behind the drumkit; her uncomplicated style does suit the group, but she's surely the least proficient musician in a day's march. Which is of course the point; The White Stripes is music as art (their visual appearance is also an important component of this), breaking down rock and blues to their barest essentials and reconfiguring them, and Meg's extremely simplified technique is a crucial part of the aesthetic.

Compared to their later records, their debut album is extremely primitive even by their standards. It's messily produced and raw sounding, and there's seldom more than a single guitar track, Jack's vocal and Meg's drums. While this raw sound does have its appeal, it does become a little wearing over the course of the album, even if they do vary the approach by using acoustic guitar or piano as the primary instrument or by adding some organ. Still, as long as they're working with strong material, they sound terrific. Their cover of Robert Johnson's 'Stop Breaking Down' blows away the Stones' take from Exile On Main Street for pure energy. There's also an effective cover of Dylan's 'One More Cup Of Coffee', showing a group with enough depth of knowledge to avoid making the most obvious choice of songs to cover, and to pay homage to a myriad of influences without sending particularly derivative of anything in particular. In any case, the covers hardly overshadow Jack's best songs, such as the propulsive opener 'Jimmy The Exploder', the impassioned 'The Big Three Killed My Baby' and the anthemic 'Astro'. He even shows a more delicate side with the delicate 'Sugar Never Tasted So Good'. The group would benefit from clearer production and a more powerful sound on their next effort, but most of the fundamental elements of their style are already in place here.


De Stijl

(2000)
De Stijl isn't necessarily a far superior record to its predecessor, but it is a step forward in most facets, with a noticeably tidier production and stronger original songs. Being The White Stripes, there's nothing in the way of line up changes, exotic instrumentation (although White does throw in some slide guitar occasionally) or diversity, or anything else I normally discuss in the first paragraph of a review. At this point they weren't really famous yet so there's nothing in the way of provocative scandals either. In fact, this record sounds pretty much exactly like the last one, except that it's more confident and more professional, and the covers are less high profile this time; I had no idea that they were covers until I double checked.

The most striking piece this time is the propulsive rocker 'Hello Operator', which demonstrates how effective The White Stripes' stripped back sound can be, with its repetitive riffing adding urgency to the paranoid vocals. It follows on nicely from the opening 'You're Pretty Good Looking [For A Girl]', upping the ante a notch after its predecessor's catchy riff craft. Elsewhere it's the acoustic material that really makes an impression; 'I'm Bound To Pack It Up' is a charming expedition into folk, an avenue that they should probably explore more often, with some nice guitar strumming. The cover of Blind Willie McTell's 'Your Southern Can Is Mine' ends the album on a warm but slightly ambiguous note. On the negative side of the ledger there's really nothing; the White Stripes lose my attention occasionally with their lack of stylistic variation, but it's generally heartfelt and they seldom write anything particularly embarrassing. This is a low 4 stars; I'm not motivated to listen to it too often but it's solid nonetheless, and a solid step forward.

Feedback: from David I liked your White Stripes reviews and your intellectually honest take on them. I've never quite managed to really find much enthusiasm for their music as it feels somewhat "childish" in origin, but I can accept that many people like the band. So many of the reviews of them have been steeped in hyperbole. Again, it's great to find good reviewers out and keep them coming! I'm a musician myself, so so I find this an immeasurable service in order to find those "lost" bands that can fill life with more color and feeling.


White Blood Cells

(2001)
White Blood Cells was The White Stripes breakthrough effort; 2001 was the year of the garage rock revival, and with their stripped down sound and aggressive delivery, The White Stripes were among the flag bearers of the genre. The album's sound reflects the new garage band status; the arty minimalism of De Stijl isn't as prevalent, replaced by a dirtier fuller sound. They're still the same two piece band, so there's no bass to risk confusion with The Hives, The Vines and the rest of the crop of 2001, but this new direction is more generic than what they were doing previously. White's vocal style has changed at this point too; he's got whinier and less pleasant.

The album starts well with 'Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground', another catchy riff, while 'Offend In Every Way' demonstrates that there are still some interesting variations available within their blues rock style. The single 'Fell In Love With A Girl' is the highlight, a propulsive garage rocker, while 'This Protector' is a nice closing piano piece. For the first time on a White Stripes album, some of the songs are really grating - 'I Think I Smell A Rat' is particularly annoying. For some reason I just don't like this album as much as the previous ones; everyone else seems to think it's one of their better efforts, but I just don't find it very interesting for some reason. I'm prepared to admit that I could be wrong about this; I'm not sure if I'm getting sick of the White Stripes' lack of stylistic variation, or just find this album's garage band style less appealing than its predecessors, but really I don't think that this album offers anything that their previous two didn't.


Elephant

(2003)
While I found the relatively low key White Blood Cells disappointing, Elephant is a return to the bombastically minimal rockers and simple charm of De Stijl. But this album's even better with more diversity and more confidence than ever before, making it the strongest White Stripes' album to date. It's also the first album the group made in the limelight, with news stories on Jack White's antics, including an assault on the Von Bondies' singer, a relationship with Renee Zellwegger and a career revival of Loretta Lynn, as well as the inevitable speculation about the relationship between Jake and Meg. This record reflects their newly found star status, with an irresistible single ('Seven Nation Army'), an audacious cover of a Bacharach standard ('I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself'), a seven minute blues epic ('Ball and Biscuit, full of braggadocio like "It's quite possible that I'm your third man girl/But it's a fact that I'm the seventh son"), and an album closer, featuring Holly Golightly on guest vocals, that gets some mileage by deflating the mythology around the group.

Other elements of diversity on the album include Meg getting her first lead vocal on 'In The Cold Cold Night', bearing a close resemblance to The Velvet Underground's drummer Mo Tucker. The so sincere that it's insincere 'I Want To Be The Boy' follows Ween into paying homage to seventies AOR. Perhaps most revolutionary of all, there's even a distinct bassline in the singles 'Seven Nation Army' and 'The Hardest Button to Button', although Jack claims that the bass sound was created on guitar. And there are still plenty of cracking guitar riffs, like 'Black Math' and 'There's No Home For You Here'. Elephant has received so much hype that a backlash is inevitable, but in the meantime, it's a fun listen; the group's refusal to take themselves seriously in the face of success with such a playful record is refreshing. The detractors are justified to some extent; as much as Jack White is a charismatic figure, there's a limit to how far the group's formula will stretch, and while all of their albums are at least good I wouldn't recommend owning all four unless you want to burn yourself out on them. Regardless, Elephant's unquestionably the best place to start in their discography.


Get Behind Me Satan

(2005)
Reasons I want to hear this:
1) Best title ever
2) That doorbell song is like the catchiest thing ever - when you gonna ring it!
3) Best facial hair ever (from Jack, not Meg)
4) I hear it's their most diverse yet.

Random Album Pick: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Rumours was recorded at a time of emotional turmoil for Fleetwood Mac; Buckingham and Nicks split up, the McVies divorced, Fleetwood divorced his wife and had an affair with Nicks, and Christine McVie had an affair with the lighting director.



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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe