•
Rating: 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
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Hello Operator (02:36)
Hello operator...
Can you give me number nine?
Can I see you later?
Will you give me back my dime?
Turn the oscillator,
Twist it with a dollar bill,
Mail man bring the paper
Leave it on my window sill.
Find a canary,
A bird to bring my message home.
Carry my obituary,
My coffin doesn't have a phone.
How you gonna get the money?
Send papers to an empty home?
How you gonna get the money?
Nobody to answer the phone.
04 Apple Blossom (02:13)
Hey little apple blossom,
What seems to be the problem?
All the ones you tell your troubles to,
They don't really care for you.
Come and tell me what you're thinking,
Cuz just when the boat is sinking,
A little light is blinking,
And I will come and rescue you.
Lots of girls walk around in tears,
But that's not for you.
You've been looking all around for years
For someone to tell your troubles to.
Come and sit with me and talk a while;
Let me see your pretty little smile.
Put your troubles in a little pile,
And I will sort 'em out for you.
Lots of girls walk around in tears,
But that's not for you.
You've been looking all around for years
For someone to tell your troubles to.
Come and sit with me and talk a while;
Let me see your pretty little smile.
Put your troubles in a little pile,
And I will sort 'em out for you.
I'll fall in love with you;
I think I'll marry you.
05 I'm Bound to Pack It Up (03:09)
Ive thought about it for a while
and Ive thought about the many miles
but I think its time that Ive gone away
the feelings that you have for me
have gone away its plain to see
and it looks to me that your pulling away
Im gonna pick it up
Im gonna pick it up today
Im bound pack it up
Im bound pack it up and go away
Ive found it hard to say to you
that this is what I have to do
but there is no way that Im gonna stay
there are so many things you need to know
and I wanna tell you before I go
but its hard to think of just what to say
Im gonna pick it up
Im gonna pick it up today
Im bound pack it up
Im bound pack it up and go away
Im sorry to leave you all alone
youre sitting silent by the phone
but we'd always known there would come a day
the bus is warm and softly lit
and a hundred people ride in it
I guess Im just another running away
Im gonna pick it up
Im gonna pick it up today
Im bound pack it up
Im bound pack it up and go away
06 Death Letter (04:29)
I got a letter this mornin',
what do you reckon it read?
It said the gal you love is dead.
I got a letter this mornin',
what do you reckon' it read?
It said 'Hurry hurry,
because the gal you love is dead'.
Well I packed up my suitcase,
took off down the road.
When I got there she was,
laying on the cooling board.
I packed up my suitcase,
and I took off down the road.
When I got there she was,
laying on the cooling board.
Well...
Hell...
It looked like ten thousand people,
standin' around the burying ground.
Didn't know I loved her,
'til they began to let her down.
Looked like ten thousand,
people standing on the burying ground.
Well didn't know that I loved her,
'til they began to let her down.
You know it's so hard to love,
someone that don't love you.
Won't get satisfaction...
don't care what you do.
So hard to love,
well, someone that don't love you.
Don't look like satisfaction,
well I don't care what you do.
Yeah...
Hush!
Thought I heard her call my name...
Well I got up this morning,
the break of day.
Just hugging the pillows,
she used to lay.
Got up this morning,
believe the break of day.
Just hugging the pillows,
where my baby used to lay.
08 Truth Doesn't Make a Noise (03:14)
My baby's got a heart of stone
can't you people just leave her alone
she never did nothing to hurt you
so just leave her alone
The motion of her tiny hands
and the quiver of her bones below
are the signs of a girl alone
and tell you everything
you need to know
I can't explain it
I feel it often
everytime I see her face...
but the way you treat her
fills me with rage and I
want to tear apart the place
You try to tell her what to do
and all she does is stare at you
her stare is louder than your voice
because truth doesn't make a noise
No truth doesn't make a noise
The Truth doesn't make a noise
I can't explain it
I feel it often
everytime I see her face...
but the way you treat her
fills me with rage and I
want to tear apart the place
11 Jumble, Jumble (01:53)
Jumble jumble
all at my house
come on over
sleep on the couch
cant even see ya
look like a mouse
Crumble crumble
the bag is brown
rip up the paper
to hear a sound
pick up the pieces
up off the ground
Tumble tumble
on to the floor
roll over
until your poor
wave to me
Im at the door
12 Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me? (03:22)
Somebody's screaming
looking at the ceilling
everything's so funny
I don't have any money
people don't even know me
but they know how to show me
Why can't you be nicer to me?
My pride is dying
I think I'm all done lying
nobody's sharing
so I stop caring
all alone and walking
nobody's talking
Why can't you be nicer to me?
Well the wind is blowing
where am I going
off a bridge and falling
nobody's calling
on the ground and laying
nobody's praying
Why can't you be nicer to me?
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By JohnWinston
The best album of the early period showcases pop songs, frantic rock pieces, nursery rhymes, dreamy melodies, and much more.
All of this without ever losing a smidgen of its charming taste.
