It's week 60 which means it's special week- and I get to talk about another album I already like, and boy do I like this one!
In terms of rock bands, it really doesn't get much better than The White Stripes. Their blend of blues and punk and hard rock filtered thru the lens of the two piece band creates a feeling few other bands replicate- and fewer still than on their first record.
I think context is an important thing to know when considering the first white stripes record. Jack White had been playing around in loads and loads of bands in Detroit in the 90's- many of which ended up not working out, and then married bartender Meg White and formed the band not long after. Meg played the drums, despite never playing the drums before, which is why you'll find alot of criticism of the band based on it's rhythm section, But that's another can of worms. They played around Detroit, performing a mix of covers and original material before releasing their self titled record in 1999. This record not only begun their legacy, but opened the doors to a supporting slot for the indie band Pavement that would prove instrumental as a stepping stone for the band.
But what about the music? Well this album sounds incredible. And by that I mean some people who you'll show it will absolutely hate it. Everything on the record sounds impossibly large even from the opening riff on Jimmy the Exploder down to the last moments on I Fought Piranhas, the electric guitars get unbelievably large. Especially on Cannon- the riff on that song is absolutely monolithic. The are often the album's best moments, tracks like Stop Breaking Down, When I hear My Name and Slicker Drips sound absolutely incredible when crushed thru a set of cheap car speakers. The Big Three Killed My Baby has this incredible section where the guitar chords keep climbing higher and larger sounding, culminating with Jack screaming "and I found out my baby is dead".
The record excels in it's quieter moments too- maybe no more than Sugar Never Tasted So Good with it's acoustic pop sensibilities and stripped back percussion creating a charmingly simple track. Do is this slow burning, swampy electric blues number with lyrics describing this crushing social anxiety that eventually builds to huge guitar/cymbal crashes.
Jack's lead guitar work on this album is excellent too- as seen evidently later in his career, he has this uncanny ability to write perfect riffs and and absolutely incendiary guitar solos. Towards the end of Astro there's this great double tracked guitar section before the track ends, When I Hear My Name has this searing little riff between the huge guitar/cymbal crashes, and Suzy Lee has some absolutely excellent slide guitar work too.
Meg's drum work, despite it's simplicity, fits this record perfectly. It has this primal and unshakeable quality to it, the kick and snare drum hits sound colossal and imposing, and the cymbals combine with the drums to create so much physical volume that technical ability doesn't really come into it. Of course, alot of this is down to how the album was produced, but just how the drums are physically played still influences the record a lot.
The only thing I'm not a fan of on this album is probably the Bob Dylan cover One More Cup Of Coffee, it just doesn't do anything particularly well that other tracks don't do, I mean I guess you'll get a kick from it if you're already a Dylan fan but for me it's kind of a dud. But overall, this record is fantastic. People often overlook it in favour of the group's later work, but this record has something uniquely special that the others lack. It just sounds incredible, and I don't have much more to say than that. Check it out!
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