The White Stripes have always been a bit quirky, a bit deviant from the traditional rock and roll norm. I mean really, what are they? Brother and sister? Married lovers? Aliens? They are in fact, according to which article you may read, all of the above. Additionally, what is just as rare in the music industry is having only two members of the band in Jack and Meg. There is no doubting Jack White’s talent on guitar, piano, cello, banjo, song writing and vocal skills, and has always (no offense to Meg) carried the band. Whether Meg (drums) is not that good or simply does not show off, who knows. She might be a bit of a token person in the band due to whatever relationship she has with Jack. Meg is like a nutty auntie who comes round at Christmas, who is clearly mad but also kind of hot in a peculiar way (you know you would). Jack is like an equally mad scientist who doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.
Whatever, the White Stripes have always been ‘out there’ doing some remarkable and unique songs and videos, and usually, both together. Remember ‘Fell in Love with a Girl’the video made out of Lego, or ‘Button to Button’ which was a stop-start video where a new frame is on each beat? And apart from distinguished videos, they wouldn’t have had success without producing memorable songs, so let’s see what the new album, ‘Icky Thump’ throws at us.
As I said earlier, the White Stripes have always been very different from other rock and roll bands, increasingly you hear different instruments and styles as you listen through the albums. And as a mid-long time fan, from White Blood Cells through to Get Behind Me Satan, the exploration into different sounds increases on each album. What started as a solid drums and guitar band, quickly evolved and introduced piano’s, cello’s, banjo’s and tambourines into the mix. While this worked very well initially in ‘Little Ghost’ and ‘My Doorbell’ which are two truly brilliant songs, on Icky Thump, the deviant style feels a bit lazy. Most of the songs are slow, boring and repetitive to the point where you can’t remember which song you have just listened too. The titletrack ‘Icky Thump’ is very good, not quite as good as the early White Stripes songs mind, but very good nonetheless. But apart from that, the songs sound lifeless, and while there is plenty of guitar and drums, none of these songs are distinguished from each other. Lyrically, the songs are the weakest of any White Stripes album. While it might be unfair to compare albums to each other, as a fan it is hard not to be thinking, ‘this isn’t as good as Elephant’ and if the album was better I would be able to say it is better than previous releases, but it simply isn’t that good. At all. To put it simply, its rubbish.
There is no song which I think will be a future hit, and I haven’t even warmed to the album like I was hoping I would. I am really struggling to find anything positive to say about the album which is a shame, because everyone knows they have the ability to, but haven’t this time around. Maybe they are running out of ideas? I have never been so disappointed with an album before; I heard and watched Icky Thump on Kerrang and was expecting great things, but the album is very samey, the songs are half-arsed, and the overall feel is really boring and repetitive. I never imagined I would dislike the album as much as I do, and I hope that Jack and Meg get back on track next time. With regards to the final rating below, it is only that high because Icky Thump (the titletrack) is good, but still, I almost feel the need to apologise on behalf of the White Stripes for making such a dreadful album.
Overall – 5/10
