Reviews, Interviews, News, Commentaries, Glimpses of God, Best-Of ListsJack White: Blunderbuss
Style: Alternative rock; compare to White Stripes, The Raconteurs
Top tracks: "I'm Shakin'," "Sixteen Saltines," "Blunderbuss"
While ear-twisting six-string tones and riffs make appearances, Blunderbuss isn't a "Jack White guitar album" by any stretch. Instead his solo debut is powered by atypical instrumentation, most notably from the keyboard family—but the cool cousins (e.g., Rhodes, slightly out-of-tune piano). The album casts a few more shadows than light thanks to some violent lyrical jaunts ("Love Interruption," "Freedom at 21," "Trash Tongue Talker"), but there's whimsy, too. The best is "I'm Shakin'," a 1960s doo-wop ditty that White reignites with a spare, guttural groove augmenting witty Samson and Delilah lyrical references. But don't get too excited: In the blistering "Sixteen Saltines," White insists that "the Lord's joke is a boat in a sea of sadness."
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Comments
Mark Murphy
To re-use an old trope I read posted a while back: 'This is edifying how?'
Robert Armstrong
I'm sure Jack and the other artists reviewed today are wonderful musicians and good at what they do. Were there any Christian releases this week? Am I going to find the Christian reviews in Rolling Stone Magazine? The reason I ask is that it seems their reviews have somehow ended up in Christianity Today. I'm not trying to be closed minded as some people will accuse me of, but I really would like to read Christian reviews in a Christian publication.