I will probably never get tired of listening to The White Stripes. They're one of those bands who managed to perfect their sound, yet took risks with each and every album they put out. Take White Blood Cells for example. For a White Stripes album that has been essentially stripped of the duo's signature blues influence, White Blood Cells still managed to become their commercial breakout album and reached levels of critical acclaim that their previous two LPs had not yet touched. I personally prefer other more blues-oriented White Stripes albums over White Blood Cells, but I still can't deny that the duo created one of the best and most colourful garage rock albums of the 2000s with this release.
Even without their strong blues rock influence, The White Stripes still managed to pack this album with memorable songs. Besides the classics like Fell in Love With a Girl and Hotel Yorba, which are on everyone's lists of best White Stripes songs (including mine), there are tons of lesser known songs on this thing that are fantastic. Aluminum has such an old school stoner rock vibe, while I Think I Smell a Rat is played like an old spaghetti western tune. And The Union Forever has a sound that reminds me of modern day indie rockers Timber Timbre. The Japanese addition includes two extra tracks that are well worth hearing. One being an excellent cover of Dolly Parton's folksy classic Jolene. The other is titled Hand Springs, from their split with fellow Detroit rockers The Dirtbombs, and this is really the only bluesy song to be found on the extended version of the album.
The only other thing that's missing from this album aside from a blues influence is Jack White's off-the-hinges guitar solos; and this omission is glaringly apparent. A big part of what made the White Stripes untouchably cool for me was Jack's freewheeling, feedback filled solos and that crunchy garage rock tone. But even this is a testament to the band, because they pulled off writing a great album even without the use of their signature sound. This made me realize that it was never Jack's solos that made The White Stripes as interesting as they were, it was that sense of live music that they captured with every release. As if you were listening to them play a show in your friend's basement or something. It doesn't sound polished or overproduced, which would probably ruin the White Stripes' style. It's this aesthetic that the band preserved with White Blood Cells, making them one of the coolest bands of the 2000s, blues rock or no blues rock.
No comments:
Post a Comment