The White Stripes: Icky Thump Review

What makes the White Stripes stand as one of the best modern rock bands is their originality, their ability to fuse together genres which seem to have no connection to rock. "Icky Thump" is the White Stripes' most ambitious effort to date. For this album the duo reached out to genres as obscure as Mexican Mariachi music in the song "Conquest" a Corky Robbins cover and even went as far as Scottish Folk music in "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn." As wild and unfamiliar these genres are to the American public the band somehow put together an album which rivals the likes of "Elephant", "White Blood Cells" and "Get Behind Me Satan."

On this album the Stripes sound best at their simplistic which is no surprise, for they have always sounded best with their simple songs. When they throw together a song with a catchy chorus and a tight and easily digestible guitar line. Simple songs like "You Don't Know What Love Is", "I'm Slowly Turning Into You" and "A Martyr For My Love For You" stand as the top tracks on the album. However, even when the Stripes are stretching into more creative directions they nail it, the title track "Icky Thump" with its wild and frantic sound even using a mellotron, an instrument rarely used in modern rock but famous for its use in Prog Rock. Many would debate the talent of Jack White's ability to play guitar for he rarely shows his true ability on his albums. This is one of Jack's most impressive showcases on guitar, utilizing some technical riffs and impressive scuffing solos.

Lyrically, Jack White has never been seen as a genius but despite not receiving great recognition for being a lyricist he is very talented. He has a way of conveying serious topics in an innocent manner. "A Martyr For My Love For You" is the perfect example of this, Jack tells the story of his inability to maintain a healthy and loving relationship. In this song he decides that he would rather end his relationship with the girl he truly loves opposed to having it continue because he knows in the end he will just hurt her. He sprinkles the serious subject with little details such as making the girl a young sixteen years old, having her come from a childish place like the zoo, and using descriptions such as joke and smile to lighten the mood and to make inevitably make it sound like an innocent song. Innocence doesn't encompass the mood of the whole album, some of the lyrics go from comical like "Rag and Bone" where Jack summonses vocal mannerisms reminiscent of Jack Black in "School of Rock" to the oddly ridiculous like "Icky Thump."

After listening to this album several times I have just one question: When will Jack White run out of stream? His past four releases have been stunning, between "White Blood Cells", "Elephant", "Broken Boy Soldiers" (The Racontuers) and "Icky Thump", he is on a rampage of Beatles like proportion. You have to ask yourself when will this man release an album that is even slightly short of phenomenal?

Sound: A-
Lyrics: B
Originality: A
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Overall: A-
(Not an Average)