There is something to be said of a band that approaches a record with a strict sense of minimalism in their stylistic approach, eventually to walk away in the end with something that sounds truly monumental. This album, The White Stripes‘ self-titled record, released in 1999, is rich in aesthetic experience. Dripping in a D.I.Y quality, soaking in a near forgotten dirty blues spirited grime, and cleverly painting an aggressive dance between lyric and sound, Jack and Meg White painted something truly impressive here. Unless you care to take into account Jack White’s early work with Goober & the Peas, or especially his work with Brian Muldoon and their work with their outfit The Upholsters (definitely worth checking out if you can track down their only three recorded tracks), than it is here, with this album, where the White Stripes first took shape. All the ingredients that would go on to comprise the rest of their careers are present here in some shape or form.
The drumming produced by Meg White is deliberate and straightforward. Even here people can learn that she doesn’t drum with a song, she instead drums along with each line of a particular song. The band’s library of personal interests and influences easily come across here as they have no trouble tapping the musical elements that flitted about them in the hub of middle-America heartland that was Detroit; a home to bluesy arena-esque rock and roll. “Stop Breaking Down” has a sound that’s playful and is set against lyrics that are more desperate than anything else; a fine and truly unique Robert Johnston cover. Their eerily lonely and haunting cover of Bob Dylan’s “One More Cup of Coffee” would become a true piece of foreshadowing towards the band’s skill and affinity for Dylan tunes in general. Enough to almost make one want to beg them to release a collection of nothing but Dylan tunes. “Sugar Never Tasted So Good” is proof positive that that dusty folk-country blues sound the band is so fond of these days was ever-present in even their earliest of days as a band. “Screwdriver” as well as “Piranhas” easily stand out with bubbling crude blues swagger that’s difficult not to find immensely appetizing for fans of the genre.
The aim of The White Stripes here was to create a stripped down variety of rock and roll that innately placed a greater focus on sound, theme, and lyrics than it’s more heavily and elaborately produced musical peers at the time. Jack White and his band have been labeled by many in the media has rock and roll royalty, a title that may in fact be rightly deserved in that they’ve done much to reclaim it’s spirited roots. This inaugural album is aggressive, abrasive…it hit’s you in a hard and course way, but somehow it’s actually enjoyable, like a good glass of scotch.
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