Jack White, why do you make such great music? Meg White, ...
Never mind.
Icky Thump is the latest offering in the series of earnest, stripped-down, fun rock-n-roll albums put out by the Stripes. Do you like primal drumbeats, power chords, great lyrics and good variety? How about all that with bagpipes? If you answered yes to the above, you need to listen to this album!
I've been through about 10 listens of this album so far, in locations as diverse as Heathrow airport, the metro in Copenhagen, during a run on Chennai beach, and while getting lost and traversing through an urban slum. For some reason, Thump provided an appropriate soundtrack for each of these experiences, though there is no a priori reason why anyone would think this would be possible.
I think part of the reason Thump works so well is the combination of deep lyrics and the variety. The latter is simply remarkable. Heavy-ish songs like Bone Broke, Little Cream Soda, Rag and Bone are both up-tempo and introspective all at once. These are set against equally introspective but considerably lighter versions, the favorites of mine being 300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues and Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn. The latter sounds like a Scottish folk-tune.
Of course, the title song, describing an interesting trip through Mexico (see the youtube video!) is phenomenal. My favorite verse is the following:
Well, Americans: What, nothin' better to do?
Why don't you kick yourself out?
You're an immigrant too.
Who's usin' who?
What should we do?
Well you can't be a pimp
And a prostitute too
One could easily imagine this being directed at those curmudgeony and ultimately silly Senate Republicans who oppose the President's stance on immigration.
I give this album 8.5/10. Go listen to it....NOW!
1 comment:
please rank the white stripes albums according to your preference. thank you.
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