Hephalumps 'N' Gweetars. (Elephant - The White Stripes)

Member Name: SlyClone2k

Product:	Elephant - The White Stripes
Date:	07/05/03 (603 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Old style rock n roll magic interlaced with blues and punk, Simple 3 piece combos, Its just great fun

Disadvantages: Actually none that I can think of.

Buy an album without having heard it first? You must be mad. What could possibly persuade me to do that? Read an opinion? Well I could but that never really cuts the mustard does it? Nothing really helps you know whether you are going to enjoy music until you actually hear it. Then I guess I'm lucky to be working with one of those people who is like an ear to the ground of the "indy/rock" music scene, while his obsession with Paul Weller and The Who know no bounds, he is also very good finding talent that is still essentially working its way into the mainstream consciousness.

Well, chances are you may well have heard a snippet of The White Stripes with their song "Seven Nation Army" (from here on in The Whites) on that clever advert for the BBC, (and it accompanies the trailer for the hairdressing program) the one where they keep changing heads. You probably won?t remember it, and that is a testament to the fact that it's not only extremely inoffensive but actually rather enjoyable.

Of most peculiar interest is that The Whites are a nothing more than a duo. Jack and Meg White, who hail from Detroit, the pair seems to revel in the ambiguity of their relationship. Speculation has it they are siblings, or perhaps ex-marital partners. What are we to care?! as it has little bearing on their music, the duo certainly have a great deal of ability to communicate their desires, and the end result provides us with some exceptional results. Jack and Meg have been producing albums together now since 1999. Elephant, being their fourth contribution, follows many of the familiar themes found in their earlier work. Principle song writer Jack has something of an interest in the number three saying "It was a number I always thought of as perfect, or our attempt at being perfect. Like on a traffic light, you couldn't just have a red and a green. I work on sculptures too, and I always use three colours. I don't know. It has t
hat feel to it, everything we do. It just seems like the perfect connection. There are vocals, drums and guitar." Accompanied by the simplistic cover art, The Whites continue to promote the simplistic Red and White candy sweet colours through out the production; you might catch the Seven Nation Army video on MTV. I saw it this morning, red white and black themes throughout!

With that thought I remind you this band is a duo. The two play all their own instruments, but rather than clutter up their music with over complicated bass lines and convoluted organ and keyboard accompaniments keep it simple with drums, guitars and voice. Essentially The Whites are a back to basics rock n roll outfit, their style is laced with blues rhythms and punk riffs, accomplished lead guitar solos and raw grungy metal. Meg covers the drums and backing vocals and Jack the vocals and guitar.

Elephant which is currently sitting at number one (1/5/03) in the album charts is an outstanding display of what can be created with the simple time honoured techniques. Elephant is the perfect remedy for a generation of dance-a-holics, who coming down from their drug induced music tastes, are reaching out for something a little more tenable. This album is perfect for any lover of rock n roll (and here I could mention Dooyoo patrons; Iain Wear, JohnDMR and Wicked Witch) who is striving to get away from the sickening run of corporate rock and the embodiment of music hell - reality *ahem* bands (don't get me started on the cheek of using the word band when introduced with worth boy before it.). Various sources state Jacks pride that none of the equipment used to produce the album were made after 1963, he states that this makes the sound more honest and indeed it does. Removed from the world of computer enhancement we get raw, emotive guitar melodies and drum beats that don't always hit the exact beat. That said you can hear the over drive and pitch change pedals.

Th
e songs then;

Seven Nation Army opens with an imitation bass line faked through one of the afore mentioned pedals. Meg taps out the simple tick tick tick drum. Jack sings a song reflecting on the media attention they have acquired; paranoid and worried Jack ponders leaving it all behind to become a farmer. The track is simple and follows the principles introduced at the start from beginning to end without striving for complexity. Given that it?s now in the charts you can hear it anywhere, I caught it on Radio 1 this morning and saw the video on MTV a couple of days ago.

Black Math is far heavier with a driven three or four chord guitar loop and clashy, cymbal driven drumbeat. Jacks edgy, quite high voice stretches an octave or two and hammers out a lyric that suits the feel of the song. NME say it's all about attraction to another person, but that doesn't ring home to me. But never the less you could easily picture them in some garage bashing the instruments in to submission

There Aint No Home For You Here opens with another driven opener but fades into a relaxing song with complicated lyrics openly reflecting on a failed relationship. The driving chorus "there ain't no home for you here" is perfectly off set by the ballad-esque almost chanted lyrics of; "Each simple gesture done by me is counteracted, And leaves me standing here with nothing else to say".

I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself is one of the better songs on the album, melancholy and emotive, lonely Jack finds himself unable to find happiness now he is alone. The guitar played on two levels, a simple strummed pattern during the verses and the chorus focused with a heavier edge and rockier backing guitar riff.

In The Cold, Cold, Night. It's a rare treat to hear Meg sing as she does on this track. A soft and haunting voice not to far removed in pitch and tone from Jack. Her soft melodious voice suits the simple guit
ar melody, hammondish bass note obtained via guitar vibrato. Once in a while the track is punctuated by a crash cymbal. From this track it becomes clear that Meg has plenty of talent and it's a shame we don't hear her more often.

I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother's Heart. Obviously touches on that early stage in a relationship where we find ourselves striving to meet the expectations of our girl friends mother. Simple classic guitar riff again, backed by Zepplin-esque overdrives. This is going to sound like a detraction but the piano accompaniment vaguely reminded me of November Rain by GnR.

You?ve Got Her In Your Pocket. Another simple track, simple solo finger picked acoustic rhythm guitar with Jack singing the soft sultry lyrics. The lyrics again reflect (and I hate to keep using that word but my minds a bit blank for something else today!) an insecurity regarding dating and women in general .

Ball And Biscuit. Possibly the bluesiest track on the album, a definite John Lee Hooker vibe surrounds the 12 bar chords. The middle sees Jack open up a whining solo; it?s so rare to hear something where someone sounds like they are enjoying themselves so much. Absolutely magic track.

The Hardest Button To Button. As soon as I heard this I though of ACDC. The band not the electricity! This could have easily broken in to "The Jack" or some other early DC track. But it contains the same easy bass line, simple rhythm and rock blues over tones. Vaguely shouty track full of hard edge chords and ?long train? running beats.

Little Acorns. The song most likely to satisfy the proper metal heads, it whines and groans with heaving guitar and clashing drums. Largely the track is built upon a heavy bass riff, once again on a normal rhythm guitar. It isn't my favourite track on the album, opening as it does with a long spoken intro about Janet, but never the less no worse for it.

Hypnotize. Again an
other track which immediately reminded me of someone else, and perhaps the one that gives them a punky edge. A vaguely Undertones/Buzzcocks feel to this one. Exceedingly simple in its complexity, tambourines, ride and crash cymbals, and easy guitar.

The Air Near My Fingers almost feels like "Hypnotize" but breaks the track down to continue with a heavy intro edge into a familiar sounding track that again finds us listening to Jack almost chanting the lyrics. I maybe wrong but I could swear there is a Hammond organ playing there too.

Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine. A song which does what it says on the label, I'm not sure who Jack is talking about but who ever it is won't take over the counter medicine! We have a nicely composed punk style reprise for the penultimate track that has a wicked guitar solo that breaks the over all track.

It?s True That We Love One Another. Given that Jack is the proud leader of the Whites it comes as something of a surprise to hear a third voice join them in the final track of the album. Holly Golightly, who has been touring with The Whites, joins Jack and Meg in a tribute to their relationships with one another, a witty track dedicated to the media circus hounding them over their relationships.

Well I actually began writing this op before Elephant got to number one, its taken me about 4 weeks to complete it, mostly because I've not had the CD out of the car long enough to be able to break down the tracks. The fact that this has been spinning more than anything else in my collection should give you a good idea of how good it is. The fact that I began writing this op after listening to the album a couple of times shows how much I wanted to share it. The White Stripes have delivered a particularly rare gem; the unsophisticated style lends this album something that has been missing from the music scene for quite a while. If you are looking for a modern alternative to classic r
hythm blues, rock and punk then this album should be high on your wish list. If, like me, you are put off by albums that reach
number one because they all too frequently sound like sell outs then fear not. This album isn?t a sell out, isn't a target audience engineered piece of mindless drivel. This album will make you smile, it'll make you tap, and it?ll make you wish you'd heard of The Whites before everyone else so you could gloat about what a great band you've been listening to.

In short this album is magic. At £10.99 in HMV it's actually pretty cheap. It's 10 stars, 5 just doesn't do it justice.

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