The key to The White Stripes has always been Jack White's persona: part hypester put-on, part sincere shilling for the ecstatic, liberating effect of roots music. After the stylistic detour of Get Behind Me Satan-a good record, if a bit too stubbornly one-note-Jack and Meg White return to form on Icky Thump, an album of crushing riffs and winking bad-boy patter, steeped in blues, country, and the arena-filling mythology of Led Zeppelin. “ We now return you to your regularly scheduled White Stripes. Even though their 2007 album is more layered than say, The White Stripes or De Stijl, at its core is great hooks, phenomenal percussion and the kinetic and raw energy of Jack and Meg White at their peak. Critics were impressed by The White Stripes’ quality and back-to-basics approach. With incredible production from Jack White, Icky Thump still sounds so alive and nuanced. Torrential Outpour Blues, Icky Thump is an eclectic, consistent and fantastic. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air), together with the spike and kick of the title track and 300 M.P.H. Marrying Some of their heaviest songs yet ( Little Cream Soda), with Scottish-indebted tracks, Prickly Thorn, but Sweetly Worn and St. album chart at number one and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 223,000 copies sold. Get Behind Me Satan sort of harked back to Elephant but, this being The White Stripes, it was another step forward and like nothing they had recorded before. Get Behind Me Satan has a slightly different sound palette (the marimba makes an appearance, for instance) and is not quite as ragged and memorable as Elephant. Elephant was recorded in London and has a raw and lo-fi quality.

If you have not got Icky Thump on vinyl, now is the perfect time to get a copy! 2005’s Get Behind Me Satan is a phenomenal album but, as it was different to 2003’s Elephant, some fans and critics were not on board. Not put alongside Elephant and White Blood Cells as the best album from The White Stripes, Icky Thump was a fitting farewell.

I also think Icky Thump is an underrated album. On 15th June, it will be fifteen years since Icky Thump was released. It is twenty-five years since they came onto the scene.

The fantastic Detroit duo, Jack and Meg White, started life as The White Stripes in 1997. Alongside Elephant and Get Behind Me Satan, their final studio album, Icky Thump, is available to own on the format. Happily, three of their studio albums are available again on vinyl. Why The White Stripes are in this Vinyl Corner.

White stripes songs