The very First time I heard White Stripes I honest to God thought I was hearing a Led Zeppelin bootleg. I walked into a record store and a minute later was telling a clerk "I'll take it". It wasn't Led Zeppelin. "I'll take it anyway". That was their sophomore album De Stijl, the album I still consider as one of their best. The Led Zeppelin comparison can come in handy with their latest effort Get Behind Me Satan as well. Call it "branching out", "a slight departure" or "unconventional writing", but in my opinion this album is to White Stripes what In Through The Out Door was to Led Zep. Not their last, God no, I hope they keep putting albums out, just... errr, a "slight departure".
The job of The White Stripes was always to mix up American music styles and do it in a unique manner. Spitting in the face of modern music expectations they've mixed elements of old rock, bluegrass, garage and stomp with no trace of commercial concession. They've pulled this off as a duo, equipped with little more than guitar, drums, distortion pedals and heaps of talent to do a lot with so little. The sound could be huge and crushing in one song and sad and nostalgic in another. Each one of their albums was done with minimalist concept and often strange and loose mix of the above strong/sad songs.
Get Behind Me Satan kicks off with the single "Blue Orchid", which pretty much picks up where Elephant left off. The song is fuzz-laden with crushing cymbals and falsetto vocals and presents itself as a perfect anthem material. And while Elephant had a fair dozen of those, this is where it stops. Most of you have heard this single; don't let it shape your opinion about the new album. In fact the rest of the album is as unconventional as any of the earlier ones, with loose elements, hurried song to song jumps and Jack's brilliant writing. Don't expect any more "Seven Nation Armies" and "Hardest Buttons" either. From here on most distortions have been replaced by a piano, and guitar effects by acoustic strumming. I'm not saying that the songs are totally unexpected; we've seen similar progressions on all of their albums. It's just that I've noticed too many comments around trying to assess this album by Elephant standards. Don't. Try to take White Blood Cells and compare it to Elephant, chances are you'll end up with the same result.
Songs vary, moods vary. Some are better than others. "My Doorbell" reminds me of (sorry, again) Led Zeppelin's "Fool In The Rain". While not necessarily a copy (we wouldn't want that to happen), to me it provides the same feeling and melody. "Little Ghost" scares as a folk song, while "I'm Lonely" dishes out typical country lyrics and nostalgia, leaving Meg with little to do with her drums. There is a little for everyone. Personally I'll admit to have a soft spot for more daring and harder-hitting Stripes. There's something for me too: "Instinct Blues", "Take, Take, Take" and "Red Rain" hit the spot in a raw, stomping fashion.
This album might not be on top of White Stripes' repertoire, Elephant and De Stijl crushed me with a force that's hard to live up to. But I won't be quick to dismiss Get Behind Me Satan as one of those "in-between" albums. For what it's worth it shows the bands ability to grab ideas on the go and work on them. It also shows that they've still got a huge potential to write amazing material and capability to deliver more interesting albums. This album might not be the best addition to the White Stripes catalogue, but it's still an addition, and I sure as hell won't complain about that. The band took a sidestep, take it or leave it.
