“Icky Thump,” the titular, opening track to the White Stripes’ upcoming album, hit the iTunes shelves at 12:01 this morning. Admittedly, I’m a big Stripes fan, and I’m eagerly anticipating the new material after being disappointed by Get Behind Me Satan.
First impressions:
I can see where the “thump” comes from. The song is definitely a rocker. Jack put some attitude into his vocals on this one. It’s a little adventurous, with these crazy bagpipe-sounding solos and some tempo variation between sections. It’s almost prog-ish, you might say. Meg’s drumming has taken a few steps forward.
I do like it, but not as much as previous two album-openers (“Blue Orchid,” “Seven Nation Army”). I wish the whole song thumped along. I feel a little robbed every time he jumps into that riff after each verse.
Has anyone else heard the track yet? To my understanding, it’s being played on (satellite?) radio as well.