The White Stripes - 'The Hardest Button To Button' (XL)
4/5
By: Kari Wynn
It's hard to find any fault with rock and roll royalty such as The White Stripes. For a couple of white kids from one of America's toughest cities, they've developed their own special brand of devil dust and feel the blues as if their blood pumped the mud of the Mississippi delta from birth. It's a demon in their belly, and the music shines from their ability to harness it and force it to do their bidding.
Lyrically, the blues has a tradition of holding a mirror up to what it sees - a grotesque vision of the truth in all its ugliness. The White Stripes remain steadfastly true to this mantra on their latest album, 'Elephant', and 'The Hardest Button To Button' is certainly no exception. 'We named him Baby, he had a toothache/He started crying, it sounded like an earthquake/It didn't last long, because I stopped it/I grabbed a rag doll, and stuck some little pins in it.' The dirty, phat beat behind it and Jack White's signature, screeching vocal delivery wraps it all up it a big blue bow.
The b-side features a cover of fellow Midwestern brethren The Soledad Brother's 'St. Ides of March'. Though originally from Ohio, The Soledad Brothers have heavy ties to the Detroit scene and have become part of the Stripes-Bondies-Six pack. Over this rendition, Jack and Meg smear their fingerprints all over it - elevating the song from its roots and making it their scuzzy, zesty own.
Yes, 'dem White Stripes have still got 'dem old blues, ladies and gentlemen. And long may it stay that way.
Artists in this article: The White Stripes
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