The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan

Genre rock Publisher V2 Records External Links Official Site V2 Records

When the White Stripes started gaining in stature (courtesy of the internet) in 2001 with their third release, White Blood Cells, I easily dismissed them as pretentious hipsters. The album's first single, "Hotel Yorba," was, in my opinion at the time, a song trying hard to be annoying, much as Ween's infamous "Push Th' Little Daisies" of the mid-90s was. But the chatter continued, and the supposed husband and wife duo of Jack and Meg White were being cited, along with NYC compatriots The Strokes, as the return of rock. Obviously this claim gets made every two years since pop and hip-hop took over as America's soundtrack, but the case for this duo from Detroit was a passionate one. I took to downloading a song here and there, but kept my distance in an effort to not turn tail from my lacerating comments about the duo over that whole "Yorba" thing.

But by the end of 2001 I had amassed about fourteen assorted tracks by the Stripes and could not avoid them anymore (or, and this is more likely, as downloading was new to me at the time, I probably just needed to clear some space on my hard drive). A CD was burned and I began to listen. It was at this point that my eyes were opened to what everyone else was talking about.

Jack White was making raw rock 'n roll that sounded of the moment as well as historic at the same time. His pilfering of old blues, country and garage rock sounds wasn't derivative or staged-sounding, they were truly revivals.

With Elephant, the band refined their approach even more, and it still sold more copies than the previous one! In the age of Pro-Tools and digital this-and-that, here was a band that, like it or not, stuck to their guns and kept things minimal. Of course some argue that White goes too far in his approach and he is often a focal point of criticism for his hard line approach towards recording, but it would also seem this exact aesthetic is what draws people in to The White Stripes' records. The fact is, no two rock records have done so much with so little. With just electric guitar and drums, and an arm full of hooks, the band is able to rock hard, but also write inescapable melodies, something the litany of punk-pop and nu-metal bands failed to do.

On Get Behind Me Satan White scales things back even further, giving fans only one true "rocker," "Blue Orchid," which is also the weakest track on the album. "Orchid's" falsetto vocals and hurried rhythms scream "throwaway," but there it is on modern rock radio six-eight times a day.

But on the second track, "The Nurse," a bed of marimba and the occasional tinkling of a piano sit underneath a quiet vocal that is split intermittently by a rattling array of electric guitar. "My Doorbell" has a Motown vibe with underlying Latin percussion. "Instinct Blues" fashions a Led Zeppelin spirit both in its riffs and vocals, (White channels Robert Plant quite nicely) though the song reaches deeper into blues history than Zeppelin ever did. "Take, Take, Take" features another interesting Latin rhythm part, and "Little Ghost" could easily be a leftover from White's collaboration with Loretta Lynn of last year. "Red Rain" features a loopy guitar part that would be perfect at a Luau, but is interrupted by explosive bits of drums and power guitar. White's plaintive moan on "White Moon" is accentuated by gorgeously simple piano accompaniment.

There are the occasional misses, however. "As Ugly As I Seem" is a rather slight acoustic number that does so little that its four-minute running time seems more like twelve. And, cute as it may be, Meg White's vocal turn (all 35 seconds of it) on "Passive Manipulation" is a bump in an otherwise smooth ride.

The album goes out with the wonderful "I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)," featuring only White and piano. Speaking from the point of near desperation, White finds the strength to wait for a better day to come. The listener doesn't have to wait for that day as it has arrived upon their hearing this exceptional album. The White Stripes have made yet another great record and show no signs of stopping.