The White Stripes - Icky Thump

Rating: 9.4/10

Sound: 9/10
Lyrics: 10/10
Sound & Production Quality: 8.5/10
Impression: 10/10
Replay Value: 9/10
Listener's Tilt: 10/10

Release Date: June 19th, 2007
Genre: Alternative Rock, Blues, Garage Rock
Key Tracks: Icky Thump, Conquest, Prickly Thorn But Sweetly Worn/St. Andrew's In The Air, Little Cream Soda, Rag & Bone, Catch Hell Blues

Ladies and gentlemen, Icky Thump: the next spectacular entry by The White Stripes. This album marks the Stripes' debut onto a major label (Warner Music in North America) after the departure from Jack's Detroit blues label (Third Man Records) and a jump into production equipment from this century (they're renowned for using equipment from the 1960s and earlier when recording their music). Also, after a nervous breakdown resulting from his breakup with Renee Zellweger (sp*), Jack and Meg have left Detroit for a comfy, southern setting in Nashville, Tennessee, so it's very fair to say that The White Stripes have gone through many changes in order to continue to be at the forefront of modern, alternative rock. Icky Thump, a long time coming after the bizarre anti-rock of 2005's Get Behind Me Satan, is a return to form for the Stripes: Jack's addictive, creative guitar work and keyboard coupled with Meg's subtle, yet effective drumming. With catchy hooks, cool blues, rags and bones, last licks of your ice cream cone, a mandolin and bagpipes, The White Stripes have created a contender for album of the year.

The album opens with the title track, a bluesy, garage tune about immigration, with one of the catchiest guitar riffs I've heard in a while. This song displays Jack's complete arsenal on the guitar as well as the keyboards, switching back and forth between the two during the song, along with an extended, progressive solo towards the end. Lyrically, the song describes a man with no job and no real name on a journey to Mexico to waste his life away. While there, he meets a half-blind woman who takes him to a hotel where they proceed to eat, drink and be merry. The next day, he wakes up to find himself robbed, tied to his bed and, once he leaves, finds a new lease on his life. It's one of those songs that provide great entertainment as well as an earful lyrically. Absolutely killer track, my favourite of the year so far.

From there, the album moves on to You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As Your Told), a song in classic Stripes format that you'd think would have been a B-side off 2002's Elephant, and 300 mph Torrential Outpour Blues, a solid track in classic blues style. And then we reach Conquest, a classic 50's tune by Patti Page modernized in a way the Stripes only could. The story goes that Jack was in a bar one day, was listening to a mariachi band and was particularly impressed with the trumpet player. Jack then asked the man, Regulo Aldama, if he wanted to join him and Meg on a track on the album. He agreed and the cool trumpet sounds you hear on Conquest are all from an unknown, mariachi trumpeter from Tennessee. All in all, Conquest is a great battle of the sexes song, describing a man with no respect for women falling in love and having everything he knew be reversed. Very cool song, check it out. Moving along, Bone Broke is another solid Stripes entry.

Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn is very interesting. The song comprises of Meg on tambourine, Jack on the mandolin and a man named Tim Drury on the bagpipes. It's not the most creative song lyrically, spinning tales of the carefree days in a carefree town being marred by some unknown force, but the way the song is put together is so blissful and crazy. Like, you'd never catch guys like The Edge or John Fruciante playing a mandolin/bagpipes combo like this, yet here's Jack White breaking the mold into something unimaginably interesting. The song then moves into St. Andrew's In the Air, where Meg finally takes the mike in a less conventional role, but makes a fantastic conclusion. Jack finally picks up his guitar again and plays some crazy riffs.

Icky then moves into the darkest section of the album, Little Cream Soda. Contrary to the title, it is an atmospherically dark song with images of leaving childhood behind and moving forward with commitment. The song is bluesy and lyrically adept, so it falls into my favourites from the album. Then, we have Rag & Bone, fun times with Jack and Meg as garage sale-goers. This song is the catchiest on the album, it's just non-stop fun. If you have a broken trumpet or a telephone, a toilet seat or a Christmas tree, Jack and Meg'll take it off your hands. I'm Slowly Turning Into You will be the next single from the duo. It almost sounds like something they should have put on Get Behind Me Satan, an organ driven track with a guitar chorus. It's once again solid, but it's getting more addictive the more times I hear it. A Martyr For My Love For You is a song about giving it all up for the one you love. A passionate love song, it sets the mood for the quickness of Catch Hell Blues, probably my favourite track on the album right after Icky Thump. It's fast, it's classic Stripes blues, what more could you ask for? Finally, Effect and Cause, a return to the retro recording equipment that has made their careers long ones, marks a great conclusion to a great album.

I'm not asking you to like The White Stripes, I expect most of you out there to not, especially those of you who drum. What I'm asking is that you look at music with an open mind. If you do, your musical horizons will be broader and you will enjoy music much more than you do now. That being said, PLEASE open your horizons to the Stripes. They're a great band, they've been around for 10 years, they love Canada (they even filmed the video for You Don't Know What Love Is in Nunavut after performing a concert in the North West Territories the day earlier) and they continue to make listening to music an enjoyable experience for everyone who's seen them or heard them. Icky Thump is one of the best albums of this year. Pick this one up while it's still hot.


Pictures:
1) Icky Thump album artwork (http://www.whitestripes.com/IckyThump/cover_art/IckyThump_Cover.jpg)
2) Screen shot from the Icky Thump music video. (http://www.culturebully.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/White%20Stripes%20Icky.jpg)
3) Jack and Meg on the set of Icky Thump (http://www.harpmagazine.com/img/news/20060627_White_Stripes.jpg)