The White Stripes – White Blood Cells

I know that I’m a little late to the party, but I picked up 2001’s White Blood Cells by The White Stripes the other day. The White Stripes are Jack and Meg White, (widely believed to be) a divorced couple that combines spontaneous, off-the-cuff recording with hard-hitting rock riffs with a strong sense of rootedness. Their aesthetic is carefully composed and instantly recognizable, and the meticulous control that they exert over their own image is almost as well-known as their music. From the stark colour scheme of their album art and clothing to their surreal, Michel Gondry-directed videos, The White Stripes look and sound like The White Stripes, and it’s hard to mistake them for anything else.

The band uses older instruments and recording equipment almost exclusively, for an incredibly lo-fi sound that hearkens back to the early days of the blues. For a lot of their more stripped-down numbers, where the band eschews distortion and more modern-sounding riffs, their sound evokes early blues greats like Howlin’ Wolf or Robert Johnson. At the same time, their exuberance is reminiscent of old-school garage rockers like MC5. Yet at the same same time, it’s something completely unto itself. The simple recording style connects them sonically to the early days of American recorded music, but it also lends the songs a certain spontaneous joy, as though upon writing the song the band couldn’t wait to share it with everyone. (The band spent three weeks recording their most recent album – the most time they’ve ever spent in the studio.) What their records lack in polish, they more than make up for in enthusiasm.

White Blood Cells definitely fits into that mold, bringing the band’s unique perspective to a surprising range of musical styles. “We’re Going to be Friends” is a lighthearted, acoustic folk tune about going to grade school, while “Fell in Love with a Girl” is a loud, hard-hitting rocker. The album also contains “Aluminum,” perhaps the bands only instrumental, a largely abstract freak-out track reminiscent of The Flaming Lips or Pink Floyd in one of either band’s trippier moments.

Despite the strong sense of style the band has, there’s enough variety on the record to keep it from getting monotonous, and even in its darker moments, it’s somehow refreshing. All in all, it’s fun, which is, ultimately, what a White Stripes record should be.