Listening

My workload today called for something that would inspire me to keep at my project as well as provide an occasional worthy distraction. Scrolling through my iTunes file at work—all the way to the bottom (at the moment, I have music arrange alpha by artist)—I landed on The White Stripes' latest album, Icky Thump.

The somewhat bizarre album title should warn the listener that the musical arrangements and the lyrics might be unnerving—but only in the best sort of way. I have loved The White Stripes' hook-laden tunes from their very first album. While the duo has a very distinctive sound, this is the first album where they really stretch and flex their abilities. Icky Thump is , I guess you could say, an experimental album. As with any such changes to a band's musical style, some tracks wail while some fall far short.

Here are some of the tracks getting repeat play:

~Icky Thump—guitar stylings pay homage to 70s rock icons, such as Led Zepplin while the lyrics display a strange but brilliant quality

~300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues—soulful surf guitar and laid back Southern California sounds

~Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn—pleasingly folksy with a clear Scottish influence that seques into the utterly bizarro, very creepy St. Andrew , which defies description (Catholic anguish perhaps?)