ALTERNATE THURSDAYS: Elephant - The White Stripes

 I interrupt your regularly scheduled music programming to give you one of Alternatives greatest modern eccentrics. Truly, alternative used to mean something. Wait, it isn't opinionated Saturday yet. I'll dive into that later.

But Alternative is the genre of the stand outs. They weren't exactly hard enough for rock, not conventional enough for pop, not exactly this or that. It tended to be a catch of a variety of fish but they had something in common. And then came Jack White.

Jack White and the White Stripes are one of the more modern lasting forces of what alternative actually is. It isn't Billie Eilish. It is the grungy riffs and the strange lyricism, the breaking of edges and not fitting into the pegs. Even if you dislike them, you respect them. 

Another cool thing to note about Elephant...it was not made with a computer. In 2003, the dawn of the digital age, the Whites opted instead to use equipment older than 1963 and an 8-track tape machine. Talk about going back to basics. It is on many lists as an album you must hear before you die. Even if you dislike it, the movement Jack has tried to create for artistry and reaching to the back will always be admirable. 

The album begins with probably the most beloved and successful White Stripes song, "Seven Nation Army". The musical riffs on this track are great. The vocals almost seem a little too mellow for the concept. Feels like you are really marching into battle.

"Black Math" is a little chaotic. I'm not sure I feel the main riff goes with the actual melody of the song, but it has a definite punk edge to it. 

"There's No Home for You Here" is just unique. It kind of feels like an old Who song. It is so melodramatic. Makes it kind of great actually.

"I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" is like a messy punky ballad. It feels strangely reminiscent of an old Beatles song in places. I have felt this listening to some of Jack's music off and on, I wonder how much of the Beatles he actually listens to. He added more of an edge to it, but it makes it interesting. 

"In the Cold, Cold Night" has lady Meg singing! A beautiful track. Seems to reciprocate the love shown from the previous track.

Now the love carries on with "I Want to Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart", which is such a mid-2000s long song title. No I mean really, go look at the debut albums of My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, or Panic! at the Disco. This was a THEME friends. I think I prefer the softer side of Jack White.

"You've Got Her in Your Pocket" is such a bittersweet song. I like the differing perspective too. A lot of times the songs of love lost are from the perspective of someone who was broken up with. We do not often get tracks from the perspective of someone who did the leaving but still intends to be friends. I like the concept a lot. 

For some reason "Ball and Biscuit" gives me a little bit of a blues vibe? Makes me think of the fact he named his company "Third Man Records" in the lyrics. I do not like the vocal melody too much though. If you like some actual instrumentation though, this song is just a little over seven minutes with a major guitar section.

"The Hardest Button to Button" kind of captures some of the trouble of being a bit dysfunctional. There's some sibling jealousy riddled with a desire to be seen and loved. I think it is a compelling comparison I never thought of.

"Little Acorns" may be the strangest song. It starts with a long spoken interview, like a news caster, telling the story of how a girl watched a squirrel storing for winter and it drug her out of a bad place. The song goes on to tell her to be the squirrel, that our problems are not as big as they seem. 

"Hypnotize" is a short love song. Has a bit of a punk edge to it. It is actually a bit catchy and infectious. 

"The Air Near My Fingers" seems a soft stand on the fact he chose to be a musician instead of do something else. I began thinking he was discussing being nervous around women, but the song actually is a reference to Psycho's Norman Bates.

"Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine" is an abrasive bit. Seems someone is frustrated someone won't take a...headache medicine? It is a bit on the punky side again.

The last song is "It's True That We Love Another" and it is a strange bit. Holly can't decide if Jack really loves her so she asks Meg, who is annoyed by Jack but gives the advice to just ask. Jack then tells a bit of a joke and it all ends happily.

LYRICS: 7/10 - Some of the songs are cute, others make interesting statements I'm not used to being lyrically written. I think some of them do not work out as well as others.

MUSIC: 7/10 - Unique in places but nostalgic in others, the album takes its own twist on older rock stylings. I think it is easy to find something to appreciate, even if you dislike it.

OVERALL: 7/10 - While I likely will not own the album myself, the stamp in history is undeniable. I think I liked it better than I expected to. Jack White is every bit a good kind of strange.