3 keepers
keeper avg .176
With surprising dynamics, energy, and a mixed bag of early American pop music styles, the debut album has nearly all the hallmarks that made White Stripes a cultural phenomenon only two years later. The most prominent is a heavy focus on the blues; White Stripes energetically reinterpret the traditional style (as opposed to the later popular hard rock style) by cranking up to eleven and riding it out like a scrappier Led Zeppelin (that is, without the technical skill borne of many intense years of studio and gigging experience) on tracks including "Jimmy the Exploder", "Suzy Lee", "Do", and the bar bluesy "When I Hear My Name." On "Astro", "Broken Bricks", "Little People", the practically metallic "Slicker Drips", and "I Fought Piranhas" they channel Zeppelin's sludge-riffing side but with the same direct, reductionist approach. Another cultural touchstone is American folk, which they perform with characteristic volume on "Wasting My Time," but pull back for a more traditional delivery on "Sugar Never Tasted So Good" and the dance hall interpretation of the traditional "St. James Infirmary Blues."
The variety that White Stripes conjure out of guitar and drums is impressive, though some welcome accents, like the clanging school bell on "Broken Bricks" and the "whale song" howl in "Little People," ironically accentuate how monochromatic the White Stripes sound is. Fortunately, with self-consciously goofy lines like "Don't let 'em tell you the futures electric, Cause gasoline's not measured in metric" (from "The Big Three Killed My Baby"****), Jack's lyrical creativity is above average (question: been to Canada? It's just across the river from you Jack). Also, the raw, in-your face riffing in "Screwdriver" was a fresh blast back in 1999, though a few years later we got Jet ("Are You Gonna Be My Girl"), so thanks for nothing Jack.
If nothing else, the fact that White Stripes excel with others' material shows their passion for the music. They joyously attack Robert Johnson's "Stop Breaking Down"****, a song that has been covered many times by others. And they perform Bob Dylan's "One More Cup of Coffee" with a refershing dynamic range. In a bleak era of Hot Topic punk, aging alternative, ascendant dad-rock Americana, and obnoxious nu-metal, Jack and Meg White distilled several styles of American pop music, improbably launching a movement in the process.
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