The White Stripes
De Stijl

THE REVIEW

Ok, I don't even know where to begin with this album...first of all, the genre...it's a rock blues-punk-garage-retro-whatever-else-maybe? 

There are many different elements here, but suffice it to say that the duo somehow manages to take truly anachronistic sounds and make them sound fresh, almost current. These strangely rustic guitars, the childish voice, the basic drumming, it all sounded out of place at the time (it's an album from 2000...), as if Jack and Meg White had slept for a quarter of a century and then woke up and started making music.

There's also room for a piano on "Apple Blossom", which sounds damn strange but fitting. Somehow, the stripped-down and lo-fi production of the album (veeeeery low-fi, it sounds like it was recorded in a basement...) works, works great. Jack White combines his acoustic strumming with lots of bluesy phrases and riffs, and Meg effectively pushes the songs forward with a very simple rhythm section. The vocals are not bad, Jack comes out a bit like Mick Jagger on "You're Pretty Good Looking", and at other times sounds more youthful and innocent.

The album tends to slow down a bit midway, but right then it goes back to keeping time with hard-rock peaks like "Let's Build A Home" and "Jumble, Jumble". It's an album made by two people, that sounds like it was, I repeat, recorded in a garage or basement, and has no right to pack such a punch, a real knockout. But it does, it succeeds. Marketing move? Nostalgia for past sounds? I don't know, but for sure this album deserves more than just one listen! 4/5