why there's still an expired magnum in my wallet
Holly’s letter to Jack White represents a perfectly understandable sentiment about the White Stripes and Jack’s musical evolution over the years. But it’s one that I, as a fan of the Raconteurs far more than the Stripes, am frankly a little sick of hearing. My idea of what Jack should do musically is much different.
Perhaps I should put my Raconteurs fandom in a bit of context. Up until I heard Broken Boy Soldiers, I was a classic rock purist and one of those morons (who are mostly 50 year old guys and not 12 year old kids like I was) who, based on the bland Top 40 pop and unpleasant hip hop that was and still is popular, determines that “all new music sucks” and other such ridiculous, uninformed platitudes. By the time I reached high school I had begun to think about softening my stance on new music, though I wasn’t actually listening to any of it yet. That is, not until Spring 2006, which would have been the end of my 9th grade year.
I had heard of Jack White at that point. I’d seen him act in Cold Mountain, and I’d even seen the Stripes play “Seven Nation Army” at the Grammys in 2004 (and I was far from impressed). I first became aware of the Raconteurs when I took a cursory glance at an article in Rolling Stone about “Jack White’s new band.” I guess it was just the right time and place for the Racs and I, because for whatever reason, one night soon after, I decided to download BBS from iTunes. And to my surprise… it sounded great! I was simply taken aback by the quality of the buoyant, Beatlesque melodies (“Hands,” “Yellow Sun”) and the guitar playing. Maybe it sounded tame to Stripes fans and those who had been following the contemporary rock scene to that point, but to me, it sounded of a time and place, and like it was made just for me. I felt a real connection with this music. Every song was memorable. It sounded daring, mysterious, and like nothing I’d ever heard before, but it contained multiple reference points to classic rock artists like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. It was just what I needed, and it will forever remain in my top 10 albums of all time.
I was lucky enough to see the band live later that year at Roseland Ballroom. The show totally blew me away and opened me eyes even more to the importance of vitality, passion, and youth in rock music- especially that of one Mr. Jack White. They were also giving out free condoms at the show, for some reason, so I took one and put in my wallet. I’ve kept it there ever since as a memento.
So the Raconteurs singlehandedly turned me on to enormous amounts of music that I couldn’t imagine myself being without today, including, of course, the White Stripes (and Brendan Benson, who I also like more than the Stripes). I’m a huge Stripes fan, but while most people see them as Jack’s main gig and the Racs as a side project, I think it’s clearly the other way around. The Stripes are largely based on self-imposed strictures- extremely barefaced songwriting, instrumentation, and production values, the limitations of Meg’s drumming- that restrict Jack more than they liberate him. Sure, Jack himself will tell you he works better in uncomfortable circumstances, but when you place the limitless energy, and charisma, spine tingling guitar seizures, and shrieking vocals that make up the one-man chaos machine that is Jack White into the context of the impeccable power pop craft of Brendan Benson and the super powered rhythm section of Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, the musical possibilities are endless. I think they proved that with Consolers Of The Lonely, which is a very different record than Soldiers and perhaps lacks the same emotional significance for me personally, but I think it’s just as strong.
On the other hand, most Stripes fans get upset when the band’s “rules” are broken. I’d say Jack found a balance between experimentation and principles on Elephant, and the result is far and away the Stripes’ best album (though De Stijil’s lo-fi charms can sometimes hit me in an equally cool way), and then began to learn more towards the experimental side for Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump. I personally don’t like Satan very much at all, but Icky Thump is great- in fact, I consider the title track to be my favorite Stripes song.
The point is: why shouldn’t Jack be able to put bagpipes on a Stripes record if he wants to? If you were to peruse the Little Room (a White Stripes forum, in case you haven’t heard) and visit one of the multiple threads concerned with “what the next Stripes album should sound like,” half of the respondents will say things like, “they should sound like they did on their first album.” What the hell? First of all, if they had continued making their first album over and over again- or, even worse, filled their post White Blood Cells albums with rewrites of “Fell In Love With A Girl”- they would not be a band anymore.
Though I think only the most poorly informed of fans actually want them to recreate their older records exactly, the attitude of “I want them to sound how they’re supposed to sound” prevails. The thing is, there’s more to grit and feeling than playing an out of tune distorted guitar in the back corner of a grimy basement, and no matter what he’s doing, Jack’s got it, so no need to worry. So if he wants to make a record like Get Behind Me Satan, which, although some of the songs are shitty and the whole thing sounds like it was recorded in a wet cardboard box, is a daring record in that it sounds not a whit like the Stripes are supposed to, then he absolutely should, because that’s where is artistic vision is taking him. Why should he do things that 1) he’s already done before, and 2) he doesn’t want to do, just to please Stripes purists? He’s moving on to bigger and - IMO -better things. It’s not like the Raconteurs and, say, De Stijil, are so far apart in sound and quality that’s it’s comparable to, for instance, classic 70’s Roxy Music to adult contemporary bullshit early 80’s Roxy Music. Jack still sounds like himself, and just as good or better than himself, just more intricate and ambitious. And there ain’t nothing wrong with that.
Perhaps I should put my Raconteurs fandom in a bit of context. Up until I heard Broken Boy Soldiers, I was a classic rock purist and one of those morons (who are mostly 50 year old guys and not 12 year old kids like I was) who, based on the bland Top 40 pop and unpleasant hip hop that was and still is popular, determines that “all new music sucks” and other such ridiculous, uninformed platitudes. By the time I reached high school I had begun to think about softening my stance on new music, though I wasn’t actually listening to any of it yet. That is, not until Spring 2006, which would have been the end of my 9th grade year.
I had heard of Jack White at that point. I’d seen him act in Cold Mountain, and I’d even seen the Stripes play “Seven Nation Army” at the Grammys in 2004 (and I was far from impressed). I first became aware of the Raconteurs when I took a cursory glance at an article in Rolling Stone about “Jack White’s new band.” I guess it was just the right time and place for the Racs and I, because for whatever reason, one night soon after, I decided to download BBS from iTunes. And to my surprise… it sounded great! I was simply taken aback by the quality of the buoyant, Beatlesque melodies (“Hands,” “Yellow Sun”) and the guitar playing. Maybe it sounded tame to Stripes fans and those who had been following the contemporary rock scene to that point, but to me, it sounded of a time and place, and like it was made just for me. I felt a real connection with this music. Every song was memorable. It sounded daring, mysterious, and like nothing I’d ever heard before, but it contained multiple reference points to classic rock artists like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. It was just what I needed, and it will forever remain in my top 10 albums of all time.
I was lucky enough to see the band live later that year at Roseland Ballroom. The show totally blew me away and opened me eyes even more to the importance of vitality, passion, and youth in rock music- especially that of one Mr. Jack White. They were also giving out free condoms at the show, for some reason, so I took one and put in my wallet. I’ve kept it there ever since as a memento.
So the Raconteurs singlehandedly turned me on to enormous amounts of music that I couldn’t imagine myself being without today, including, of course, the White Stripes (and Brendan Benson, who I also like more than the Stripes). I’m a huge Stripes fan, but while most people see them as Jack’s main gig and the Racs as a side project, I think it’s clearly the other way around. The Stripes are largely based on self-imposed strictures- extremely barefaced songwriting, instrumentation, and production values, the limitations of Meg’s drumming- that restrict Jack more than they liberate him. Sure, Jack himself will tell you he works better in uncomfortable circumstances, but when you place the limitless energy, and charisma, spine tingling guitar seizures, and shrieking vocals that make up the one-man chaos machine that is Jack White into the context of the impeccable power pop craft of Brendan Benson and the super powered rhythm section of Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, the musical possibilities are endless. I think they proved that with Consolers Of The Lonely, which is a very different record than Soldiers and perhaps lacks the same emotional significance for me personally, but I think it’s just as strong.
On the other hand, most Stripes fans get upset when the band’s “rules” are broken. I’d say Jack found a balance between experimentation and principles on Elephant, and the result is far and away the Stripes’ best album (though De Stijil’s lo-fi charms can sometimes hit me in an equally cool way), and then began to learn more towards the experimental side for Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump. I personally don’t like Satan very much at all, but Icky Thump is great- in fact, I consider the title track to be my favorite Stripes song.
The point is: why shouldn’t Jack be able to put bagpipes on a Stripes record if he wants to? If you were to peruse the Little Room (a White Stripes forum, in case you haven’t heard) and visit one of the multiple threads concerned with “what the next Stripes album should sound like,” half of the respondents will say things like, “they should sound like they did on their first album.” What the hell? First of all, if they had continued making their first album over and over again- or, even worse, filled their post White Blood Cells albums with rewrites of “Fell In Love With A Girl”- they would not be a band anymore.
Though I think only the most poorly informed of fans actually want them to recreate their older records exactly, the attitude of “I want them to sound how they’re supposed to sound” prevails. The thing is, there’s more to grit and feeling than playing an out of tune distorted guitar in the back corner of a grimy basement, and no matter what he’s doing, Jack’s got it, so no need to worry. So if he wants to make a record like Get Behind Me Satan, which, although some of the songs are shitty and the whole thing sounds like it was recorded in a wet cardboard box, is a daring record in that it sounds not a whit like the Stripes are supposed to, then he absolutely should, because that’s where is artistic vision is taking him. Why should he do things that 1) he’s already done before, and 2) he doesn’t want to do, just to please Stripes purists? He’s moving on to bigger and - IMO -better things. It’s not like the Raconteurs and, say, De Stijil, are so far apart in sound and quality that’s it’s comparable to, for instance, classic 70’s Roxy Music to adult contemporary bullshit early 80’s Roxy Music. Jack still sounds like himself, and just as good or better than himself, just more intricate and ambitious. And there ain’t nothing wrong with that.