The White Stripes

The White Stripes
Icky Thump


Fantastic album. Perfect pacing. Their best since De Stijl.

Snobby music enthusiasts have always accused The White Stripes of being nothing more than blues-bastardizing common thieves, responsible for the majority of today's listeners having zero knowledge about Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Son House and such. To those cranky bed-wetters: Learn the definition of humility, a word that WS have always been on good terms with. While their bluesiest numbers definitely offer up more than a winking glance into the past, they retell and re-interpret the blues through their red and white lens. Like any worthwhile musician, Jack White borrows instead of stealing. (And yes, there's a huge difference between the two.)

If their last album, Get Behind Me Satan, taught WS how to widen out their palette Icky Thump is a glorious step not backwards, but sidewards. Gone are the marimba-filled ditties that gave Get Behind Me Satan its sunnier disposition; returning is the crackling sound and energy of the Detroit duo's first few albums. The title track is a perfect indicator of how this album sounds, with hypnotic, Thin Lizzy monster riffs and the various crazed oddities that mark every one of the White Stripes' singles.

The White Stripes fetish for Led Zeppelin III-styled folk-rock crops up mid-album on "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn" and its companion piece, "St. Andrew (This Battle Is In The Air)." Rich in Led Zep-styled songcraft, the pair is heavily influenced by traditional English and Irish folk (dig the bagpipes!), reminding of The Incredible String Band's classic period in the late '60s.