 |
 Caught in the Carousel - Music Reviews and More
|
White Stripes
Icky Thump
Third Man Records
The White Stripes have always had the ability to outdo, improve upon, and move in different directions with every new release. Elephant was catchier and harder than White Blood Cells, while Get Behind Me Satan was unexpectedly different, with less of Jack White’s screaming guitar and more piano-based melodies. The much-anticipated Icky Thump combines the White Stripes’ classic and heavy ear-damaging guitar riffs and driving beats with an ode to Scottish folk music, resulting in a sound that is traditional, yet completely modern. “Icky Thump” hooks you in with its thunderous guitar, a continuation of where “Seven Nation Army” left off; the curiously titled “300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues” alternates between a sort of slow groove and White’s wailing guitar and features the hilarious standout line: “Getting hard on myself sitting in my easy chair.” Whereas Get Behind Me Satan was an experimental departure, this record is a return to the intense Elephant, but with brilliant twists; like their fantastic cover of Burt Bacharach’s “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself,” the cover of Patti Page’s “Conquest” is one of those twists, sounding like it’s being played by a post-punk Mexican mariachi band. The way White uses his guitar to echo the trumpet makes it sound like a song you’d find on the soundtrack to a Tarantino movie. Much talk has been made of the Scottish influence on Icky Thump, which shows in such bagpipe-laced numbers like the folk-tinged “Prickly Thorn, But Sweet Worn” and the prayer-like “St. Andrew (This Battle Is In the Air),”which features an inspired spoken word by Meg. Elsewhere, the intense “Little Cream Soda” will make you want to turn your volume up all the way and the bluesy “Rag and Bones” (a Jack and Meg duet) is rather stunning. Loud and gritty, Icky Thump makes you realize how much you’ve missed the White Stripes. Where will they go from here? Only Jack White knows, but this reviewer, for one, will surely follow.
--Jessica Simons
Can we help you find something?