Review by Josh Felty
Rating: Listen!
I'm a great big hulkin' fan of The White Stripes. Always have been. There was a time when Jack and Meg White's retro allure seemed a bit much, but upon further inspection of their music and sheer energy behind their garage-band blues creations, The White Stripes have forever solidified a special place in my heart. Whether its the early rumblings of their rambunctious debut to the sharpened, well-oiled magnificence of Elephant--the record that absolutely catapulted Meg and Jack to the upper echelons of rockdom--this group has to be the biggest thing to hit rock 'n roll since the electric guitar.
And that's not just my fanboy giddyness bleeding through.
On Under Great White Northern Lights, the duo's first official live release, that down home blues-infused rock sensibility is never more apparent. Jack White's guitar rips and roars through amazing renditions of "Black Math" and "Blue Orchid" (the latter of which rocks along with the crowd's infectious clapping) before busting out the moving "Jolene". "Little Ghost" thumps along with its classic bluegrass rhythm, made all the more sweet with frantic mandolin strumming. The big surprise to me was the stellar call-response rapport on "I'm Slowly Turning Into You", which sees Mr. White jumping back and forth between organ and his electric guitar, Meg's powerful drumming driving along the way. The illustrious "300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues" and "Fell in Love with a Girl" further the show's immensely entertaining energy before rounding it all out with the crowd-favorite "Seven Nation Army".
It's hard to not completely slather this review with all the sorts of positive feedback a fan could give. I hope I've not disappointed this time. The thing about The White Stripes is they're defined as Jack on guitar/bass/organ/piano/etc. and Meg on the skins: if they were to add even one extra musician to tackle some of the piano duties, it wouldn't be the same. It just would not. There's a stark magnificence in the spareness of their sound, more than made up for with wailing guitar solos and falsetto screeches amongst everything else. The Stripes' sound is defined by its imperfections; every song rings with its own character, simple yet effective. There's also the lyrics: direct, poetic and full of biting humor. It's as if Jack White would be more at home in the yesteryear of country music's early days. Or perhaps in the muddy South around the time of The Great Depression. Then Meg, with her thoroughly foot-stomping drumming, recalls some of that older, classic rock feel. Sure, the drumming's not always technically precise. But this isn't Tool's drummer's world. Meg holds her own against plenty of drummers out there. In my opinion, she's the female equivalent of Dave Grohl.
And what's more, in days of autotune and over-compressed slickness in the recording booth, The White Stripes strike a chord with a more stripped down sound, hearkening back to the Abbey Road days of tube amps and ball 'n biscuit mics. When instrumentation and songwriting during the recording process were typically worked out with a good, old-fashioned jam session. You can tell Meg and Jack have fun making music, a fact made even more apparent by their live performances. There's nothing I hate more than listening to a live album where you can't hear the crowd during the song. Some shows make it worse when the lead inquires of the audience, "How are you doing out there?" There's none of that here. You hear the crowd because the crowd members are into the show, not just passive spectators. Besides, this duo jumps right into each song with little more than a few brief words of introduction, leaving more time for the fun stuff.
That's what's missing the most in modern music: that sense of unbridled adventure and daring. I'm reminded of artists like The Doors and perhaps even Creedence Clearwater Revival when I listen to The White Stripes; and that's not because they sound anything alike. It's that they share the same ethos. You can practically hear it coursing through each note and breath. I've caught this band on Conan O'Brien (one of their first national exposure spots) and have practically worn out their previous DVD release, Under Blackpool Lights.
This live disc (and subsequent vinyl record, another selling point for The Stripes, in my book) also includes a companion DVD, which I have to check out immediately. Apparently, it contains some backstage footage and some other goodies, worthy of a weekend or two of quality rock 'n roll entertainment.