Icky Thump

I must admit it took me a few listens to get into Icky Thump, the latest release from The White Stripes. I'm a big fan, based mainly on the albums White Blood Cells and Elephant. Their last record, Get Behind Thee Satan, was a departure for them and not well received, but Icky Thump is getting all sorts of praise. I like the record, but I'd still rather play their early stuff.

In interviews, it's apparent that Jack White is one of the most calculating "alternative" rock stars around. Whether it's being a stickler about what he and his band mate Meg White wear (only black, white and red), or the instruments used, White doesn't seem to do anything haphazardly. He's also an experimenter with earlier forms of music. After appearing in the film Cold Mountain, he seems to be reveling in a love for Appalachian folk and blues. On Icky Thump there's lots of it. There's also some snarling guitars and plenty of White's yowling vocals.

The opening, title track sets the pace with a driving drum beat, getting the listener ready for a rough ride. Although the promise of that opening track is only met intermittently, there's plenty to like here. I admired the songs Little Cream Soda (in which White shrugs off life's problems with a menacing "Oh well"), Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn (which comes complete with bagpipes) and A Martyr for my Love For You, a spooky number which seems to be about the singer's attraction for a sixteen-year-old girl. You Don't Know What Love Is is a pleasant song that could be a top-40 hit from the seventies, and Rag and Bone has a nice tempo with some call and response vocals between Jack and Meg.

The one curiosity on this disc is Conquest, a cover of a song done in Mariachi style. I admire the bravado of tackling such a thing at the same time I wince a little in hearing it.

Even if I don't think this is a superb White Stripes recording, I do appreciate that White is stretching the limits and not playing it safe, and I look forward to future releases.