A Deep Dive into The White Stripes

My [music listening] goal for last month was to finally finish The White Stripes discography front to back. I did, and all I can really say is: Holy Shit. 

I’ve always been familiar with the band, and knew about 75% of their music, but I had never sat down and did a full listen through of everything they had to offer. It’s been at least three years of me hailing Jack White as the coolest guy fucking ever [take him SAVING THE PUBLIC from a Morgan Wallen performance on SNL in 2020, doing an absolutely phenomenal song with Beyonce on her masterpiece Lemonade, or him swooping in and saving the Soundside Music Festival in 2024 with less a weeks notice - as I said, coolest guy fucking ever], and I’ve always adored Meg White and her drumming style. It was their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year - maybe the only one I was truly excited about of who got in - that made me finally go through their catalog. And they truly are one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time. 

What I find so interesting about he band has always been a sort of social experiment, a litmus test to a public that has become too involved in their entertainers lives. Why did they match all the time? Were they married or siblings? Why do they make such old school music with little to no modern twist? Why did they only utilize a guitar and drums? The White Stripes aimed to answer none of those questions. All you were given was their music. I’ve always sort of loved that about the duo, that there were always so many questions and no answer to any of them - it was all about the music. Rock music became overtaken by images and characters, but none quite like The White Stripes, whose characters were all you had, with no explanation only performance. Jack has stated that the band’s messaging was to convey an innocence that was often lost as people got older. The color scheme and matching outfits like uniforms, the childlike understanding portrayed through their early songs. Like I said, they were characters in this world, confusing and unable to be understood simply or quickly. Their music was simple but was clearly thought out and orchestrated, their songs tackled adult ideas with a childlike philosophy. 

“We wanted things to be as childish as possible, but with no sense of humor, because that’s how children think. Children also fib, conflating truth and fiction, real and fake, for the mere fun of it." - Jack White to Spin Magazine, 2002

PART 1:

I am dying to talk about their work, so I have dedicated my next two weeks to them. This post will be their first three albums, and next week their last three. I hope you enjoy a very passionate exploration into one of my new favorite rock bands, though do keep mind to the fact I am leaving my objectivity at the door.

The White Stripes (1999): From the moment you enter their world you are quite literally enthralled in any and everything they are doing. Heavy, shaking drums and fast-paced

riffs are the first things you hear, before Jack’s distorted vocal comes in about thirty seconds in. This is your introduction to the band. It sounds like they were recording in a tin-can, every sound sticks together as the songs trudge on. On the first track Jimmy the Explorer, as they slow down towards the middle, you can barely hear Jack’s refrain of green apples under the sticky crashing of instruments. The second track is a cover of Robert Johnson’s classic Stop Breaking Down, bringing out the blues flavor that made them so unique at the time. Through the 80s and 90s, rock music became bigger than it ever had, everything about spectacle or pushing the envelope. The roots of rock music - the blues - were being upheld in earnest by The Rolling Stones and

about no one else. Yeah, The Black Crowes were

popular for a year or two and you could make arguments for Aerosmith, but blues rock was a dying breed. The White Stripes brought it back. There's a fasinating interview with Jack from 2005 where he bemoans the state of current music, asking why nobody want's to sound like the past anymore. For decades, artists innovations came from building upon what others had done by doing exactly what was already done and twisting it into a new, unique thing. By the late 1990s, it wasn't cool to sound like someone else anymore. It was considered lazy, uninspired, pointless. The White Stipes burst on the scene covering songs that had been old when the Stones did them twenty years previously, but it didn't sound old or lazy. Hearing their brand of the blues, it wasn't just regurgitated, note for note reenactments of already great songs. You heard these songs infused with a certain Detroit flavor, taking from the new while upholding the old. There was a quality to their work that had been gone for so long, they were simple but unique. It could look like just about anyone could do what they did but it’s deeply untrue. They were tight, making larger-than-life sounds that filled out each song with just the two of them. At points you listen through their first album and you see so much promise, it’s so obvious they’ll only get better. I think it’s a good debut, but probably their weakest output. Highlights are Astro, for that insane drum and riff mix over Jack’s vocal, their Dylan cover of the supremely underrated One More Cup of Coffee that keeps to the original while fitting it into their style, and the albums hands-down stand out: St. James Infirmary Blues. Amazing on every front, highly recommended even if you don’t listen to anything else on the album. A sign of the superb things to come. 

The White Stripes performing St. James Infirmary Blues in 2005

De Stilj (2000): I liked their first album, but while listening through De Stijl I found myself

questioning multiple times if this was in fact one of the greatest albums I’d ever heard. It takes everything from the first album and heightens it - they’re louder, the songs are longer, there is never a let up from the gas pedal. That’s something you learn as you go through, they only get better after never once needing to really improve. Starting with You’re Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl), the song is just so fun. It’s catchier than anything on their debut, it plays like a second-tier British Invasion single with updated lyrics. The vocals are turned up into the mix, no longer caught under the instrument tracks. The riffs are great on this album specifically, I’d argue out of all their albums this may be the best for Jack. On nearly every album, it's hard to deny that Meg steals the show with her insane rhythmic timing and precision, but De Stijl really is Jack's crowning achievement. His vocals sound fresh and clear, at points it’s like a different person sings each song the way he changes his style from track to track. His guitar playing begins to really shine here as well, becoming a focal point of a bulk of the tracks. I personally hate flashy players, I tend to veer towards those underrated and unassuming players whose genius only really strikes in quiet moments: Mike Campbell, Mick Taylor, Jeff Beck, Prince. Jack fits into

this group as well,  he’s phenomenal at making the

guitar sound like a percussive instrument as opposed to the star of the show, he plays it in the way most bands would utilize a bass. His orgin as a drummer who just happens to play guitar comes into play, each lick he plays sounds like it could fall apart at any moment if he put any more agression into it. Listen to Apple Blossom for the mixture of his acoustic playing and then his electric bridge, or Jumble, Jumble where the repetitive, alarm-like riff steals the show. My favorite track on the album is hand’s down A Boy’s Best Friend. It starts off almost feeling like it’s been slowed down, Meg’s drum beats are few and far between and the guitar seems like it’s been plucked through molasses. Jack’s vocals are mixed further back than the rest of the album, he’s singing in this weirdly distant yet emotional vocal. The instrumental break towards the middle breaks into this disjointed mess of sounds: an out of time tambourine, the guitar goes rouge, the inter-spliced drum beats. It comes across like children playing with their toy instruments than the high caliber musicians that are present through the rest of the song, making it even more jarring when the vocals come back and you hear Jack’s mature vocal saying My dogs come sit next to me, a pack of dogs and cigarettes / My only friends speak no words to me, but they look at me and they don’t forget / That a boy’s best friend is his mother or whatever has become his pet. It harkens back to him saying the band is to sound like children without any humor seeping through, how the reasoning present on the song is unflinchingly honest but childish in practice. It's an utter tragedy this has never been performed live, by the way.

The White Stripes performing You're Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl) in 2003

White Blood Cells (2001): Another one where each track makes you question if you’re listening to the greatest album ever recorded. If the first two albums were finding their

footing, White Blood Cells is going to the only logical ending of where they were starting. I would argue the band’s career can be sliced perfectly in half with their blues trilogy (self-titled through White Blood Cells) and their experimental trilogy (Elephant through Icky Thump). White Blood Cells is the beginning of this pivot, leaving behind the strong blues rock sounds of the first two albums and becoming the garage rock heroes their legacy is shaded by. It introduced them to the wider world as well, being a commerical break-through after the cult-like success of their early years. Dead Leaves and Dirty Ground opens the album, throwing you right into the new, power-steam sounds of the band. Hotel Yorba is another standout, Meg's specular drumming and backing vocals elevate it to the Gods. Also another great lyric, It might sound silly for me to think childish thoughts like these, But I'm so tired of acting tough and I'm gonna do what I please. Of course you have one of the best rock songs of the 2000s as well, Fell In Love With A Girl, a song so good it was responsible for the garage rock revival of the decade. Rolling Stone magazine even listed it as one of the most important songs in rock and roll just six years after it came out. I Smell a Rat, Aluminium, I Can Learn - every song on the album is a masterclass in every sense of the word. This is The White Stripes

the world came to love, for good reason too. But there is one song that stands above the rest, maybe even the rest of their discography. Over every perfect forte into the blues, every expertly crafted note, and perfectly unpolished sound, there's a simple song that I truly believe is a standard tucked away in this rough and rowdy catalog. At any given moment, I could cry when I hear We’re Going to Be Friends. It’s always done that to me, this song may as well have been my introduction to the band back when I was no more than a toddler. Featured on the Curious George soundtrack before being utilized as a PBS commercial bumper. It’s unlike anything else they’ve ever released, an ode to kindergarten as opposed to high school drop-outs. It’s simple, it’s soft, it’s sweet. It’s sung with a tenderness that most adults could never harbour, Jack’s vocal comes across sweeter here than anywhere else. It still sounds undeniably like him - the certain inflictions in his voice stay as he reverts back to this childhood memory. To be quite honest I think it’s one of the greatest songs ever written, written simply enough it can appeal to the children whose story it tells and to the adults who can fall back into that time in their lives with each strum of the acoustic guitar. It’s bigger than The White Stripes in many ways - a staple for every person lucky enough to hear it. Tonight I'll dream, while I'm in bed, when silly thoughts go through my head about bugs and alphabet / And when I wake tomorrow, I'll bet that you and I will walk together again.

The White Stripes performing We're Going to Be Friends on Saturday Night Live in 2001

Everything about White Blood Cells was a commentary on the world Jack and Meg White now found themselves in. Jack said of the title and cover photo in 2001: "When does music become a business and why do we have to be suckered into it? [..] The name for the album was chosen as "this idea of bacteria coming at us, or just foreign things coming at us, or media, or attention on the band.” The idea behind the band was to convey this childlike innocence and simplicity that often gets lost too early. Their monochromatic looks, their simplistic yet tight playing, the songs that seem to come from the mind and feelings of a child as opposed to adults. While Jack and Meg were a married couple during the late 90s, they chose to pose publicly as siblings to construct this idea even more. Saying they were the youngest of ten, letting their work be viewed separate from their relationship so constant questions about it wouldn’t become standard. The choice to bring back the blues, a style that relies on emotions as opposed to technicality, everything about the band during their early years was a study on the listener. Those who were able to get past the fact they couldn’t understand were treated royally to some of the best musicians to ever grace the genre. Everyone else? Well, they liked it too even if they didn’t want to admit it.

A pretty stellar performance of Hotel Yorba on Later with Jools Holland:

PART 2:

"They’re incredible and what a great treasure of American music."- (x)

Last week I wrote about the first three White Stripes albums in their perfectection. This week I’ll be focusing on the stretch of albums that helped them become bona fide Rock Stars in every sense of the word. As I said last week, the band's career could be split right down the middle as their blues trilogy and their experimental trilogy. This week will focus on the experimental albums - the ones that built upon the blues outline and helped the band become an even more singular force within the the rock music scene.

Elephant (2003): After reaching a point of success that seemed impossible for their demeanor and sound, The White Stripes took the risks any good artist should take when being funneled money and a crowd that is bound to listen to whatever you put out. If you were a fan from their first album, or jumped on during De Stijl you had already followed them through their garage rock period, and if you joined during White Blood Cells then you could only hope with baited breath they captured that lightning once more. What did listeners get? For starters, Seven Nation Army. As easy as I find it to rag on a band’s most popular song, it’s hard to deny just how good Seven Nation Army actually is. If you knew nothing about the band before hearing it, it’s a damn good introduction. And if you were already familiar? It’s another perfect song. The riff is so damn good, distorted to sound like a bass line despite the song's lack of any bass guitar, and the way Meg holds the whole thing down is just another great example of her perfection as a drummer. The song was written by Jack to see if there could be a catchy song with no chorus, a challenge he accomplished so well you probably never noticed until this moment the song doesn’t have one. There’s also the spill over from White Blood Cells themes of the media’s peering eyes and the sudden microscope on each and every single thing they said or did. The lyrics follow the narrator entering a town, finding gossip whispered about him constantly - I'm gonna fight 'em off / A seven nation army couldn't hold me back / They're gonna rip it off / Taking their time right behind my back -  before leaving  and coming back due to his loneliness after being forced away - And the feelin' comin' from my bones says, "Find a home" - before ending on the ominous note of And the stains comin' from my blood tell me, "Go back home" It’s perfect front to back, every aspect so perfect it becomes weird to think there were decades of rock music before the invention of this song. And the rest of the album is just as good, if not better. In the Cold, Cold Night is the first album track to feature Meg on lead vocals and she adds such a haunting aspect to the songs with her voice. You’ve Got Her In Your Pocket connects to the albums deeper commentaries of the death of the American Sweetheart, The Air Near My Fingers and Little Acorns also play strongly with this idea. Girl, You Have No Faith In Mediance was changed due to Meg’s insistence that the lyrics were problematic in nature, she pestered Jack until they were changed into the much better song we have today. The Hardest Button to Button is another phenomenal song as well, everything on Elephant is the antithesis of The White Stripes: it flips everything people started to understand on its head, but commits itself to this perfect mix of classic and familiar garage and blues sounds while pushing the envelope of how far such a simple premise could go. I could make a great argument for this being their very best album. It’s constantly fresh and exciting, while sounding like an old classic. 

The White Stripes performing Seven Nation Army in 2007

Get Behind Me Satan (2005): The change for Get Behind Me Satan was the use of

percussive instruments outside of the usual drums, and Jack trading in his usual guitar based tunes for piano based. There was a new flavor to their sounds as they expanded their arsenal, the largest they had since De Stijl. Jack uses less guitar on the album than any of their previous works, writing based on piano playing instead. It gives the album a feeling of being “stripped” back, replacing the loud and rambunctious sounds that always felt like they were about to spin out with a more measured and “delicate” sound. Jack said the album is all about truth, that Rita Hayworth and her public image were instrumental to the stories he wanted to tell. There is an underlying theme about the expectations of people, specifically those in the public eye, and what people actually are or long to be. During this phase of their career, the albums started to become less a collection of great songs and started to adhere more to a certain idea about fame and its vices. I think this one of their weaker outputs, the experimentation feels stagnant compared to what was done elsewhere in their catalog, but there are still some career highlights here. My Doorbell is delightfully stupid, Blue Orchid is so much fun with a great riff from Jack that sounds, and I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely] and White Moon are great ballads from the least likely of bands to have them. Red Rain is my favorite track on the album - it sounds like their early stuff while keeping their new-ish sound and slight experimentation. There’s this new array of influences to their sound with having the piano based tracks, while still keeping to their rock-revival sounds it allowed the influences of Little Richard and Fats Domino to pour in. Jack’s writing leans more into this kitschy and novelty sound that had been lost from rock for decades. There’s also another attempt to shoo away people who wanted to pry into what exactly their “deal” was. White Blood Cells took on the brunt of this topic, Seven Nation Army was its definitive song, and Get Behind Me Satan is the last word on the matter. Once it seemed everyone understood what they were trying to do - write great rock songs without any of the flash - they added a bit of flash. The world connected to the direct and rollicking sounds of Elephant? Well, now they’re going to add an array of new sounds, and the second you think you understand anything just be sure to think twice about that. You lost every battle and now the war. Afterall, Jack does croon early on: It’s the truth and it don’t make a sound. 

The White Stripes performing Red Rain on Conan in 2005

Icky Thump (2007): Back to the highs, we have the grand finale of The White Stripes as we know them. Icky Thump is a damn good album, and a damn good impromptu ending for such a magnificent band. It takes the listener back to the simple times of their tried and true blues period, with a bit of a modern twist spun in for good measure. The title track is one of my favorite tracks in the band's whole catalog: amazing riff, amazing lyrics, and it just brings this energy that you can’t find anywhere but a Stripes tune. One of all time verses in any song is on this song too: White Americans, nothing better to do? Why don’t you kick yourself out, you’re an immigrant too! / Who’s using who? What should we do? / Well, you can’t be a pimp and a prostitute, too. Just fantasic. That’s rock and roll! The whole song is endlessly fascinating in four minutes, thousands of meanings packed between each beat and line. Conquest is another great cut, it's so insane in context to the band's career. Jack's high-pitch in the middle syllable of Con-ON-quest, and I love the drum beat on here, it never overshadows the insanity but doesn't fade into the background either. Rag and Bone is such a fun skit between Jack and Meg that despite it's cheesiness can't be denied as of having a great hook and KILLER drumming from Meg once again. A Martyr for My Love for You is an amazing song with, once again, great drumming. I'd argue that Icky Thump may be the best showcase of Meg's powerhouse style, I think she's star of every album but on here she's just out of this world. Effect and Cause is a phenomenal closer, going back to their roots of a simple guitar and drums track. Well you burned my house down and got mad at my reaction is a great line with an even better it's delivery, once again a song with Jack utilizing his falsetto. It's easily my favorite track here sans the title track. There’s a bit of everything they tried throughout their time on the album, it feels like a greatest hits compilation of completely new material.

The White Stripes performing Icky Thump in 2007

There is nowhere else to really mention this, so I’ll tack it on here: their covers are absolutely amazing. They come from a very clear place of respect, making them so fantastic. Their cover of Jolene is amazing, with Jack’s strangled, choked out vocals there is a heartbreak that doesn’t come through in many versions of the song. He isn’t pleading for his man to not be taken (yes man - he doesn’t change to the female pronouns throughout the song) but struggling to get through the sentences as he conveys his need for this person in his life. It’s moody and dark and takes Jolene so far away from where it started it’s hard to believe it’s that song. There's also a great Dylan cover in Isis and a great Stooges cover in I'm Bored.

Genuinely one of the best covers you'll ever hear

As many lies that were spun by around the band [and by Jack himself], The White Stripes were no bullshit rock and roll. The angst of Sex Pistols, the unpolished finish of Nirvana, the heaviness of Zeppelin, the catchiness of the Stones, the precision of The Who, the worldliness of Neil Young. As attitude became tabloid frill, they never let theirs become their legacy - they let it become their ammo. There was an unexplained emotion as the undercurrent of every song, not quite the unruly and confusing air of adolescence yet also not an understanding or explanation of why this feeling was there. Pings of nostalgia of no real time or place, the fear of not understanding but also not being able to understand why that’s scary. Jack has spoken about the idea the band was to be childlike but in the sense children believe everything without any sense of humor. It’s an unknown feeling and indescribable state of being, but as essential to The White Stripes as black, white, or red. 

The White Stripes dissolved in 2011, leaving in their wake a legacy that showcased what only true greats could. Their closing statement read:

The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to.

The White Stripes brought something back to rock music that had been gone for so long. They played their songs, respected the past greats, stood up for what was right, and didn’t let themselves continue to trudge through when it didn’t feel right. As easy as it is to mourn the lack of the band, you just have to be happy they were ever there. Bold, abrasive, honest. Rock and Roll personified in the two most unlikely characters the genre had ever seen. I am absolutely ecstatic that Meg and Jack are finally Hall of Famers, the absolute best pick of this year's rather lack-luster list. Meg being recognized as one of the great drummers of her time in recent years, being upheld for her importance in keeping The White Stripes going at all after their first album, being an all around badass despite her reluctance to be in the public eye. One of the coolest and most overlooked women in rock and I will forever stand by that. And Jack White, man. What can be said? One of the most consistent and prolific rock stars of the past twenty years, someone who still continues to stand on what the genre is supposed to mean when so many disregard that for notoriety and fame. Some damn good rock stars to being rewarding if I do say so myself. 

Below is a playlist of the selected highlight of their albums that I’ve mentioned in the past two posts: