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Spread the Social Love:
Now, if like me you’re not the most ardent fan of The White Stripes, I mean come on get yourselves a bass player, then you won’t be super enthralled by the prospect of a Jack White solo album, I mean doesn’t the man do enough? Between all the James Bond theme songs and the side projects with Brendon Benson he’s also worked with the unusual likes of Insane Clown Posse, Electric Six, and produced for everyone to ever come out of the southern states of America with a guitar strapped to their back, and don’t forget that film career he has under his belt (he played ‘Uncredited Altar boy in The Rosary Murders in 1987 I’ll have you know) as well as all those rumours about him being an insane nut job who married his sister and is obsessed with the number three he has to quash. Amidst all that he just so happens to have released his debut solo album, Blunderbuss, this year, looking at all the above you could forgive him for it being a terrible blithering mess of a record, but that’s just not how Jack White rolls.
It kicks off with ‘Missing Pieces’ which showcases everything great the album has to offer in a concise three minutes span. White’s typically skitty singing style is present as he wails his way through the verses spewing forth lyrics like, “I thought she left a note, just the tag of the pillow there, then I noticed there’s a rag next to my ear.” This is the sort of, and I hate to use the word, quirky insights we’ve come to expect from the man who here possibly defines himself as one of the greatest musicians of a generation. If you don’t trust the word quirky and all that it entails then you might want to stay away from ‘Sixteen Saltines’ but just know you’ll be missing a track that’s so on edge it’s derailing magical trains. If there’s one thing White does well its insane instrumentation, but we can’t expect anything less from the man who Rolling Stone named the 70th best guitarist of all time.
Not one to skimp on expenses you can quite clearly tell that this album has come from a whole cast of individuals, 19 to be exact, and they’re playing everything from the Wurlitzer, the double bass, the mandolin, maracas, Rhodes, fiddles, organs, and then the boring old drums and guitars. One of the least guitar driven tracks is first single ‘Love Interruption’ which is straight out of the past. It’s dark, depressing, and a very maudlin experience truth be told, it’s also one of the classiest songs you’ll hear this year. Its 60’s soul vibe is akin to ‘Son Of A Preacher Man’ and it’s organ spirit comes as constant dull pitch, there’s no drums, and some gentle strumming as Jack and an unnamed female do their best warble, this untreated approach shows that White has many strings to his bow and could easily play as your funeral pyre burns if you so desire.
To think this album got its first look in the recording studio because RZA of Wu-Tang stood the man up is surreal, though I think we’re now all desperate for that collaboration to roll back around. This is an album definitely much more Jack than anything he ever did with The White Stripes, it still has his trademark powerhouse riffing, but it’s a record more concerned with the intricacies than with raw power and ultimately it falls somewhere between The Stripes and his more subtle outings with The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, take those piano trills on ‘Hypocritical Kiss’ for example, their sarcasm is prevalent. That’s what you get with a Jack White product, he doesn’t just know how to play, but he knows how to make something that’s emotionally charged and he seems to have more emotions and senses than the rest of us.
“And men who fight the world and love the girls that try to hold their hands behind them, they won’t be left behind by time or any rules that try to bind them,” so White sings on ‘Weep Themselves To Sleep’ and it is this self-reflexive quality to his work that captures you in his life and work. White himself is a man whose passions are unbridled and always looking forward, it’s this urgency and momentum that has taken him this far, pick any song on this record and you will be there in the moment that White wrote it; which is only further backed up by the fact that this is the first time White has written all his material in one session, a trick which has paid it’s dues.
Tricks are something Jack White has always had up his sleeve, he uses distortion/sustainer’s, whammy’s, tremolo probes, and a POG, which is what created that distinctive electric sound on ‘Blue Orchid’, he’s always affecting his voice and using a multitude of pedals that all differ depending on the project, and he gets sounds unique to him and his various acts. While to some extent he does use effects here everything is much more natural, or at least it’s affected to make my primitive ears believe it was recorded in the middle of an arid wasteland in the mid 60’s on nothing but a tape player. It’s a sound with a multitude of layers that are more rewarding with each listen, they go from big, brash classic country, ‘Take Me With You When You Go’ to modern electro freak-out, ‘Take Me With You When You Go.’ Yes, I did just mention the same song twice and no, it’s not a mistake, such is the genre mash-up of a finale White has delivered for us. It’s a song that does genuinely deserve the adjective 'epic' to be bandied about. I suggest you stop what you’re doing and listen to a song that starts out with all the innocence of a pre-schooler and finishes having had several panic attacks brought on by all those psychotropic drugs. This is the song that will have a generation of kids who want to learn the fiddle and not the guitar, because as startling as that guitar is when it kicks in around the two minute mark backed up by an insatiable drum beat this is the fiddle’s show without a doubt.
Now, if like me you’re not the most ardent fan of The White Stripes then that’s fine, but don’t be discounting the man behind them because not liking The Stripes doesn’t mean you don’t like Jack White and you wouldn’t want to miss one of the years finest albums would you?
Listen to:
It kicks off with ‘Missing Pieces’ which showcases everything great the album has to offer in a concise three minutes span. White’s typically skitty singing style is present as he wails his way through the verses spewing forth lyrics like, “I thought she left a note, just the tag of the pillow there, then I noticed there’s a rag next to my ear.” This is the sort of, and I hate to use the word, quirky insights we’ve come to expect from the man who here possibly defines himself as one of the greatest musicians of a generation. If you don’t trust the word quirky and all that it entails then you might want to stay away from ‘Sixteen Saltines’ but just know you’ll be missing a track that’s so on edge it’s derailing magical trains. If there’s one thing White does well its insane instrumentation, but we can’t expect anything less from the man who Rolling Stone named the 70th best guitarist of all time.
Not one to skimp on expenses you can quite clearly tell that this album has come from a whole cast of individuals, 19 to be exact, and they’re playing everything from the Wurlitzer, the double bass, the mandolin, maracas, Rhodes, fiddles, organs, and then the boring old drums and guitars. One of the least guitar driven tracks is first single ‘Love Interruption’ which is straight out of the past. It’s dark, depressing, and a very maudlin experience truth be told, it’s also one of the classiest songs you’ll hear this year. Its 60’s soul vibe is akin to ‘Son Of A Preacher Man’ and it’s organ spirit comes as constant dull pitch, there’s no drums, and some gentle strumming as Jack and an unnamed female do their best warble, this untreated approach shows that White has many strings to his bow and could easily play as your funeral pyre burns if you so desire.
To think this album got its first look in the recording studio because RZA of Wu-Tang stood the man up is surreal, though I think we’re now all desperate for that collaboration to roll back around. This is an album definitely much more Jack than anything he ever did with The White Stripes, it still has his trademark powerhouse riffing, but it’s a record more concerned with the intricacies than with raw power and ultimately it falls somewhere between The Stripes and his more subtle outings with The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, take those piano trills on ‘Hypocritical Kiss’ for example, their sarcasm is prevalent. That’s what you get with a Jack White product, he doesn’t just know how to play, but he knows how to make something that’s emotionally charged and he seems to have more emotions and senses than the rest of us.
“And men who fight the world and love the girls that try to hold their hands behind them, they won’t be left behind by time or any rules that try to bind them,” so White sings on ‘Weep Themselves To Sleep’ and it is this self-reflexive quality to his work that captures you in his life and work. White himself is a man whose passions are unbridled and always looking forward, it’s this urgency and momentum that has taken him this far, pick any song on this record and you will be there in the moment that White wrote it; which is only further backed up by the fact that this is the first time White has written all his material in one session, a trick which has paid it’s dues.
Tricks are something Jack White has always had up his sleeve, he uses distortion/sustainer’s, whammy’s, tremolo probes, and a POG, which is what created that distinctive electric sound on ‘Blue Orchid’, he’s always affecting his voice and using a multitude of pedals that all differ depending on the project, and he gets sounds unique to him and his various acts. While to some extent he does use effects here everything is much more natural, or at least it’s affected to make my primitive ears believe it was recorded in the middle of an arid wasteland in the mid 60’s on nothing but a tape player. It’s a sound with a multitude of layers that are more rewarding with each listen, they go from big, brash classic country, ‘Take Me With You When You Go’ to modern electro freak-out, ‘Take Me With You When You Go.’ Yes, I did just mention the same song twice and no, it’s not a mistake, such is the genre mash-up of a finale White has delivered for us. It’s a song that does genuinely deserve the adjective 'epic' to be bandied about. I suggest you stop what you’re doing and listen to a song that starts out with all the innocence of a pre-schooler and finishes having had several panic attacks brought on by all those psychotropic drugs. This is the song that will have a generation of kids who want to learn the fiddle and not the guitar, because as startling as that guitar is when it kicks in around the two minute mark backed up by an insatiable drum beat this is the fiddle’s show without a doubt.
WATCH // 'Love Interruption'
Now, if like me you’re not the most ardent fan of The White Stripes then that’s fine, but don’t be discounting the man behind them because not liking The Stripes doesn’t mean you don’t like Jack White and you wouldn’t want to miss one of the years finest albums would you?
Blunderbuss is out now
Listen to:
- 'Love Interruption'
- 'I'm Shakin'
- 'Take Me With You When You Go'
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