THE WHITE STRIPES
Icky Thump
Warner Bros / Wea

Generally, I don’t appreciate negative sexual references, but I make exception for The White Stripes latest release, Icky Thump. After two huge, must-have albums — Elephant and Get Behind Me Satan — Jack White is back with his slamming riffs and whimsical, yet subtly insightful lyrics on The White Stripes sixth album. His ex-wife, originally thought to be his sister, Meg White once again matches his strong chords with surprisingly powerful and unconventional slams of her own. (Surprising for such a sweet, red and white piece of ass.)

At the start of many songs on Icky Thump you get the feeling that you have heard a White Stripes song that sounds very similar to this, but you quickly forget that when the duo’s patented eclectic sound kicks in and has your mind wondering what may be coming next.

The instruments are often sparse, but still fill your ears more than many other bands that have 20 things going on at once. (The same goes Jack’s singing.) On Satan, Jack threw in some xylophone, on this album he’s thrown in bagpipes, used unconventionally, of course, and some horns. This makes the times when Meg joins in, mirroring Jacks riffs, even more powerful. And when another instrument is thrown in, it seems downright riotous.

The Icky Thump single is being played on the radio right now and is a good example of the harder, more rocking sound on the album. Definitely a winner.

300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues starts the album off with an acoustic guitar rhythm and mellow feel, in which Jack reaffirms his affinity for redheads, and then swiftly slams a pick through your skull from ear to ear with a blistering, high-pitched solo (which most of the solos on this album tend to be) and chorus. It’s hard to say solo on this album though, because there are many times on many songs where Jack’s guitar is the only noise heard, yet it is not a solo in the traditional sense.

A Martyr For My Love for You follows and mirrors the layout of “300 MPH,” with a little more kick and with some organ added under Jack’s guitars

Conquest is memorable not only because it is like some twisted, hard rock Bolero, but also it has an amazingly cool dueling guitar/mariachi horn solo.

Little Cream Soda starts with an awesome headbanging session and never lets up. In it you can feel how Jack and Meg feed off each other. You can picture them head to head leading each other into experimentation, not trapping themselves into a predetermined, recorded track.

We hear organ, or is that bagpipes, on the folksy Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn.

Effect and Cause made me finally feel that Jack has as much experience at the marriage game as he should.

Rag and Bone has Jack and Meg entertain us with their lighthearted banter.

Although this album has its anti-rhythmic moments, which I can appreciate, I generally like strong power chord riffs that remain steady throughout the song. You don’t see much of that on this album. You get the riffs, and plenty of them. In fact you’ll get many of them in the same song. Some are related and some seem totally random. This gives some songs a choppy, disjointed feel. I would rather have my continuous rhythm, but the differing sections create a feel of not knowing what’s coming next. That develops an atmosphere in which the music seems like it can go in any direction, even though it has been laid down already. It keeps you guessing, like a live experience, which I highly recommend you check out, when you have the thrill of knowing that anything can happen.

Icky Thump. Another great White Stripes album. Definitely for the White Stripes fan, but also for anyone from a music connoisseur to someone just listening for something a little different and original.

Jack White was made to make music. Meg is his complement. So what if they don’t do the icky thump anymore…or do they?