Music Review: White Stripes – Icky Thump

Release Date: June 19th.

It Rocks. Get it.

The new White Stripes album ‘Icky Thump’ is the sixth studio release by Detroit’s famous former couple Jack and Meg White. Coming after a self-described hiatus, this album proves once again that the White Stripes have the staying power to be one of this generation’s most formidable bands.
Care To Get Nice?

I was able to get my hands on an advanced copy…and I dug it…big time.

After being featured heavily on Get Behind Me Satan, no piano is found on the new album. Icky Thump has more of the heavier ‘garage rock with a blues flavor’ of their earlier albums with a few almost Zeppelin-esque jams. That being said, fans of the hard nosed style of the self-titled debut and De Stijl will notice that this new collection doesn’t have the same raw edge.

To be honest, not having quite the same rawness is a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love the pure-balls fire of the early stuff, in fact that’s what first made me a fan. But, the White Stripes have grown as musicians and Jack has progressed as a song writer. This isn’t to say that they’ve lost their rock and roll ‘edge,’ it just means that the songs on each of their albums have become a little more complex…growing from what Rolling Stone called a ‘rigid minimalism.’

While there’s no piano, Jack still allows his unique musical craftsmanship to shine through. He utilizes other intruments, such as a Univox synthesizer, bag pipes and even some mariachi horns on a great cover of ‘Conquest’ (a song penned by Corky Robbins).

All in all, I think this is an album that all White Strips fans will like and it’s highly recommended to any rock ‘n’ roll fan.

3.5/5

If, for some strange reason, you don’t like this album, please keep it to yourself. We’ve seen what happens when Jack White gets pissed.