The White Stripes

Item: Get Behind Me Satan
Author: Nick Mattiske

Get Behind Me Satan

(2005)

Reviewed by Nick Mattiske

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Label V2 RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2005

alternative rock blues rock garage rock rock

With both an expanded fan base and a devoted music press salivating at the prospect of a new album, could Jack and Meg replicate the intensity, abandon, mystery and humor of Elephant? Well, mostly. First song "Blue Orchid" would easily fit on Elephant. Like "Black Math" or "The Hardest Button to Button," it has a sleek but throaty riff -- part glam metal, part blues -- that in its brilliant familiarity seems to be lifted from the pages of rock history.

Second song "The Nurse" is a complete left turn, a weird, plodding number with marimbas and dour piano. Across this come strafing bursts of guitar and drums that at first listen sound like they are out of time and from a different song completely, like a case of crossed wires. Eventually the song attains some measure of coherence, but normal it ain't. This is followed by another turn, this time a kind of garage Motown, in the charming and funny "My Doorbell." Sprightly piano chords and tambourine accompany Jack's dating tales. It's noticeable early how the album revolves around piano much more than the last one.

But don't think this is something completely new for Meg and Jack. They've made a point in the past of saying that they don't subscribe to the idea of reinventing themselves on each album (After all, does B. B. King? Do The Rolling Stones?). More evidence of their insistence on doing things the old-fashioned way. Jack's lyrics have the same time-warped quality -- archaic and nostalgic, obsessive and strange. There's the same traditional approach to morality. On "Passive Manipulation" Meg takes another stab at vocals, and runs counter to current mainstream culture, singing, "Women, listen to your mothers, don't just succumb to the wishes of your brothers." The song has potential, but is sadly only a mere snippet. They made a song out of "The Nurse." Surely they could have made a song out of this!

There may be fewer electric guitars than Elephant, but they are still red-raw and close, screeching and squealing. The psychedelic Hendrix blues-rock is pushed to the limit on "Instinct Blues," with a pummelling two-pronged attack like portions of "White Blood Cells."

There's also still the plundering from traditional American music (and then taking it into strange dimensions). "Little Ghost" is like a left-over from Jack's Cold Mountain sessions, a toe-tapping jig about an amorous encounter with an apparition ("When I held her I was merely holding air"), on which Jack performs group vocals with himself. "Take Take Take" rattles acoustically like Wilco, and contains a seemingly random bell ringing halfway through that I admit on first listen had me running to the front door to check who was there.

This is White Stripes to a T. Right down to the Art Deco stylings of the artwork, Get Behind Me Satan is retro, but with Jack and Meg's unique touch -- always throwing in something from left-field. They continue to open a door into their weird and wonderful little universe.

4 tocks