The White Stripes – Elephant

Artist: The White Stripes

Title: Elephant

Label: V2

Rating: 8/10

The Good:
“Seven Nation Army” – The White Stripes will have you fooled as they sound like an army. This is perhaps their next step into another level as the bassline brings the bottom even lower.
“There’s No Home For You Here” – An exploding blues track that brings everything that is the White Stripes into perspective. This is a definitive moment.
“I Want To Be A Boy to Warm Your Mother’s Heart” – Jack’s vocals are going to move you and the track is going to surprise you. It wouldn’t sound vintage except that it was made fifty years after it sounds like it was.
“Ball And Biscuit” – Seven minutes? What? I told you they were shedding their skin. Jack brings the blues and he brings it hard.
“Well It’s True That We Love One Another” – A blues track with Holly Golightly and Meg singing with Jack. It’s quite a lark.

The Marginal:
“I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” – A simple riff that churns until the chorus blasts you in the face. A worthwhile cover of the Burt Bacharach/Hal Davis tune.
“In The Cold, Cold Night” – An effortless almost painful blues number. Meg’s vocals teeter on chilling.
“The Air Near My Fingers” – This teeters between good and bad. It is catchy, however there are sketchy parts that seem thrown together.
“Black Math” – There is an eerie T-Rex vibe to this hard-rocker.

The Bad:
“Hypnotize” – Too close to the past Stripes.

Frankly: You don’t know whether to cheer or jeer the White Stripes. No one expected them to last. You wonder if they are over-hyped over over-talented. They have long been an acquired taste until Elephant. Now the White Stripes sound like a band that has finally flexed their entire musical muscle. Elephant is scary good.

+ rae gun