The White Stripes – White Blood Cells

Release Date: 2001
Previously Owned: No
First Time Listen: Yes

Impressions:  Pretty simple on the surface: dirty guitar+bashing drums+straightforward vocals= garage to counter the digital era. It works. The opening song, “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” fulfills that formula. But after that, they throw a few extra tricks: some acoustic guitars on Hotel Yorba and then keyboards on “I’m Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman.” Some nice, hummable tunes, especially the needle-in-the-red punk rock “Fell In Love With A Girl.” Sonically, they treat classic and punk rock the same, which is a pretty interesting concept. Meg’s primordial drumming only makes Jack White’s guitar seem more epic in comparison– kind of like how Robin is deployed in the comics to make Batman seem larger and more imposing. Wait, is that “There Is A Man, A Certain Man…” part inside “The Union Forever” an homage to the same song in Citizen Kane? (Nice. Very ART SCHOOL, Jack White.) Despite such hipster bait, he still can score on a direct number like the acoustic remembrance “We’re Going To Be Friends.” Sometimes White comes off as a little too precious as a personality–sort of a indie-rock Johnny Depp, but he’s got plenty of riffs on “I Think I Smell A Rat” and the almost completely unravelling “Aluminum.” Overall, a solid batch of songs, played by human beings, with only some regard for perfection and the overall reduction of ironic lyrics serves them well. I guess their success shows that when in doubt, there will always be a market for simply-but-well-played-but-not-too-well-played garage rock.

Should this album be on the list? Yes
Starred songs: Fell In Love With A Girl, We’re Going To Be Friends
Sneaky Track: Now Mary
Will you listen to this again? Yes
Rating: ★★★★