I know a song is worth posting about when I start groovin' around in my chair and then listen to it five times in a row. That's generally how it goes when I hear a track that Jack White is involved with, either as the artist or producer (Loretta Lynn's "Portland Oregon," is one of my all time favorite songs). This new song, "Love Interruption" off of Blunderbuss, White's new album dropping TODAY, is raw, it's dirty, it's got a killer video, and it makes me want to sway back and forth until the end of time. With a bit of head-bobbing thrown in (more after the jump).
I remember the first time I heard The White Stripes, the band of which Jack White was half, and the act that put him on the world stage. The other half of the band was his wife, Meg White, whom he claimed was his sister. They definitely knew how to keep the intrigue going. It wasn't until I read a recent article about the eccentric rocker in the New York Times Magazine a few weeks ago that I knew for certain the White's relationship. I recommend the piece, it's illuminating as to how crazy and how good Jack White really is.
But I digress; back to the first time I heard him. I was in eight grade, and The White Stripes album Elephant had just come out. I had the CD in my disc-man in the back of my parents' car as we drove to Rockport, ME. It was right around Portland, I think, when "The Air Near My Fingers" came on, and since then, I've been hooked.
Part of the reason I'm so into Jack is that through the years he's kept that raw, guitar-driven, gritty sound that electrified me in 2003. This latest track keeps his signature driving, syncopated rhythm (despite the lack of drums; could that be an unspoken homage to Meg White, the drumming wife/sister?) and blends it with his and a back-up singer's high voices. The video is great, too: an all female band done up in '60s style glamorous outfits back up White in his military style coat and his creepy long-ish hair. I guess when you're that good you get what you want, and in White's case, it's a bevy of beautiful women singing and playing behind him.
I can't wait to hear the whole album. I'll probably post about it later this week, but knowing me, the best laid plans are always subject to change.
Here's "Love Interruption:"