Never heard of them until maybe a year or two ago. I don’t really keep my fingers on the pulse any more. All I hear about is Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber and One Direction and the like from my kids.
I must say, I am very impressed with The White Stripes thus far. Jack is truly a guitar virtuoso and Meg can keep the beat with the best of them. I’m wowed. I didn’t know people were making real music anymore.
They are a good little band, though Meg drives me insane with her drum style. I’m also a little suprised that you had never hear of them, I think of them as one of the MOST mainstream popular rock bands from 2002-2006. There was a time when I couldn’t go anywhere, (including mainstream establishments like the grocery store, or Target) without hearing tracks from their album Elephant.
Hang on for a post or two and I will put together a greatest hits youtube compilation links post.
Just very surprised, not in any way impugning your pulse-fingering. I’m even a little jealous of your oportunity to get to know the band while you have their entire catalogue to wade through- you don’t have to wait wait wait for the next album.
Once you’re a fully enthused fan, you can still experience the joy of anticipation waiting for each future Jack White project. So, you kinda get the best of both worlds.
They have 4 albums you should know about. They start off very garage rock-y and get more polished as Jack becomes a better musician. Meg never really improves (some say this is a feature not a bug, I am on the fence).
The first album you should know is their second album **De Stijl **which got them the attention of the indie kids back in 2000. It’s a solidly fun, dirty blues rock album.
Notable tracks (I’ll only list a couple, as the whole album is really good)
You’re Pretty Good Lookin’ (For a girl)
Their next album White Blood Cells contained their first mega hit “Fell in love with a girl.” which doesn’t sound much like their other music, but was probably still their biggest hit to date and has been covereda 1001 timesby now.
It also had a ton of other great songs that largely got overshadowed by the mega sucess of Fell in Love. These include
Dead Leave on the Dirty Ground
the previously linkedHotel Yorba
and the underrated (yet still popular) We’re Going to be Friends
So, that was their “unknown indie rock period” in the sense that those songs were all written before they made the cover of Rolling Stone, so to speak.
After the success of White Blood Cells they released the album that was so popular I got sick of them Elephant.
This is the album that had the songs that were played on popular radio every 5 minutes from 2003-2005 including
The Hardest Button to Button
Seven Nation Army
their really fantastic version ofI Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself
Like White Blood Cells Elephant has lots of other great tracks that didn’t get airplay like Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine.
So then some time passed, Jack got together with Brendan Benson and formed The Racontoures who have a few hits of their own. You might know Steady as She Goes. They are worth checking out on their own, and are more traditionally rock. He also produced a really excelent album by Loretta Lynn and worked on the Cold Mountain soundtrack.
Then the band comes back with Get Behind me Satan, which is very very different from Elephant or anything else they have done. You may know their songMy Doorbell from this album best. Also worth a mention
I’m Lonely But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet
Forever For Her is Over for Me
Take Take Take
Then came Icky Thump in 2007 (which, holy crap their last real album was that long ago?)
which didn’t do a ton for me so I will let someone else suggest listening tracks, but it was pretty well liked as well. And then that’s where it sort of stopped.
Well done NAF1138 - a solid overview. I love the White Stripes and really respect Jack White as a musician, guitarist and “persona creator” for want of a better term. He’s crafted a persona that is primitivist - primitive, raw bluesy stuff but coming from a post-modern place. And his playing is great enough to make it work.
Check out the YouTube videos for Seven Nation Army at the 46th Grammys. The guitar solo floors me. That and the Ranconteurs playing the Seeker with Pete Townsend. Sorry, can’t figure out that linky thing.
Jack White is brilliant.
I’m Shakin’
^^^^ A cover song but so well done.
I’m hopelessly stuck in the past with music, but the White Stripes is one of the few current groups that I’m a big fan of. Jack White is one amazing guitarist and songwriter.
Me and the SO saw them in '02 and it was a good show at a small venue, but the thing I remember was that the opening act was a musical puppet show. A little weird.
I don’t know much about The White Stripes except that I do like Seven Nation Army but would you happen to be talking about Chez 106? I stopped listening to them some time ago. I got so sick of listening to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.
The White Stripes appeared on The Simpsons, were parodied by Weird Al (‘CNR’ on YouTube…an ode to Charles Nelson Reilly), won several Grammy awards, and have headlined large musical festivals around the world. Most rock musicians can only dream of reaching The White Stripes’ level of success and popularity.
I don’t listen to their music much, but the two Stripes concert I attended were really great: BIG SOUND and awesome tone. I’m not quite sure how Jack was pulling off the bass parts, maybe a looping pedal and octave effects pedal.
I’ve heard that Jack exclusively used analog tape to record studio tracks for the White Stripes and his other projects, i.e. The Raconteurs, Dead Weather, etc. He employs some unusual guitar modifications and effects. I never liked his vocals much, but I admire his unique inventiveness and heavy reliance on vintage equipment.
Fans and critics are polarized by Meg White’s drumming. For better or worse, the beats are extremely simple and often repetitive with no fills. I suppose that it fits the Stripes’ music though.
Jack reportedly took on Meg’s last name when they got married, and then they identified themselves to the media as brother and sister. Their seemingly odd relationship was the source of much speculation a few years ago as they emerged into fame.
The White Stripes broke up a couple years ago, but Jack White is still very active with other projects.
Wait… Who’s giving Justin Bieber accolades?
Yes. That is indeed the station. I started listening to AM talk radio for this very reason.
"Oh great. “Money” followed by “Stairway to Heaven” followed by “The Joker” and then “Hotel California.” Jesus. The repetition is mind-numbing. I still listen almost exclusively to talk radio, but when I have switched to 106.1 lately I’ve noticed they have expanded their playlist now. Why in the fuck didn’t they play this stuff 10 years ago?
Now I only know my old shit, and the shit my teenagers listen to on “the new hot 89.9” and know nothing in between.
I’d mention my lawn, but it’s covered in 2 feet of snow.
I’d be interested in the first bit – yeah, an octave doubler or one of those pedals (or something in the rack – whatever) plus a little sampler would do it.
I’m a fan of Meg’s drumming – simple, stupid, and just rock and roll, at least to me.
One of things I really love about the White Stripes is how they took old blues songs and added just the right amount of rock to them. One of my favorite songs is Death Letter Blues:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqP2TcCR9NM
And this is a performance at the Grammy’s - Seven Nation Army into Death Letter - the transition is incredible (around 2:06):
Also, *Elephant *went platinum in the United States and double platinum in Great Britain, and they signed to a major record label in 2003, and released their next album with Warner Bros after that fell through. Jack White is a major celebrity and almost certainly has more money than he knows what to do with. I think of the White Stripes as being in the vanguard not only of the garage rock revival, but also of the indie music revival, when, in the mid-to-late 2000s, critically acclaimed “indie” bands like the Arcade Fire began to achieve mainstream financial success.
Speaking of which, I have this great new bandto tell you about, Leaffan…
Sounds good! Again, heard of them but never been exposed to their music.
Jack White got to sit in with the Stones in Shine a Light and with The Edge and Jimmy Page in It Might Get Loud. He’s well-known and respected.
He uses Octavers and the Digi-Tech Whammy amongst other effects. He does a good job of keeping things just on the edge of blowing up, tone-wise.
Ronnie Wood has a weekly show on the aforementioned Ottawa radio station. He played “Seven Nation Army” on his show; that’s really what made me sit up and take notice. Ronnie plays a lot of diverse stuff from Motown to blues to kick-ass rock, and he has impeccable taste. If Ronnie likes it, I like it!