No Name

About

The White Stripes were nothing if not a formal exercise in exploring the possibilities of self-imposed limitation—in instrumentation, in color scheme, in verifiable biographical information. Since the duo’s dissolution in 2011, Jack White has continued playing with form (and color schemes), from the just-one-of-the-boys-in-the-band vibes of The Raconteurs to 2022’s sonically experimental <i>Fear of the Dawn</i> and its more restrained companion <i>Entering Heaven Alive</i>. Despite—or perhaps <i>to</i> spite—those who longed for a simpler, noisier, more monochromatic time, White tinkered away. The rollout for <i>No Name</i>, White’s sixth solo album, was characteristically mischievous: It first appeared as a white-label LP given away at Third Man Records before being posted online without song title, sparking an excitement that felt fresh, largely because the sound did not. Meg White is not walking through that door anytime soon, but the 13 tracks here channel the unadorned, wild-eyed ferocity of the band that made him famous more efficiently and consistently than anything he’s done since. There’s plenty of swagger from top to bottom, but most of all there’s <i>hooks</i>: big, fat, noisy guitars played in the catchiest combinations possible. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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