The title phrase came from an old-school Northern English expression for surprise or exasperation, the likes of which dot British pop culture like The Goodies. When it all comes to an end on the acoustic punk of ‘Effect and Cause’, Icky Thump felt like part throwback and part look into the future.Įven though they were emblematic of America’s mixing bowl of genres and styles, Icky Thump includes a few nods to Britain, a country that had embraced The White Stripes from some of their earliest tours. Tracks like ‘300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues’ and ‘Catch Hell Blues’ see the rootsy origins of the band being mixed with the electric excitement of garage rock, the latter of which sees Meg pound out some of the most incisive hits of signature stripped-back beats. Jack gets to hop on keyboards, an instrument that he had become increasingly fascinated with, on tracks like ‘A Martyr for My Love for You’, but by and large, it’s mostly just Jack’s guitar and Meg’s drums. Andrews’ are home to Scottish smallpipes. Icky Thump largely dispenses with the multi-instrumental tendencies of Get Behind Me Satan: ‘Conquest’ contains some triumphant trumpet, while ‘Prickly Thorn’ and ‘St. Somehow, ‘Rag and Bone’ was chosen as the album’s second single, showing just how comfortable The White Stripes were about calling their own shots after a decade together. ‘Rag and Bone’ mixes spoken word into a bizarre narrative where Jack and Meg portray two pilferers, recalling the meta in-text self-references that were played for laughs on the Elephant closer ‘Well It’s True That We Love One Another’. Andrew (The Battle is in the Air)’, featuring a disconcerting lead vocal turn from Meg as a disembodied narrator pleading for angels over a nightmarish backing track. The latter track segues immediately into the tape-modulated ‘St. ‘Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn’ sounds caught between backwoods American folk music and classical Indian music, with drones rubbing elbows with mandolins.
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‘Conquest’ is a full embrace of the Mexican fetishisation that was teased on ‘Icky Thump’, with Jack White taking on the role of the noble matador. Although tracks like ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’ and ‘Little Cream Soda’ found the band returning to their fuzz-blues roots, Icky Thump has plenty of strange trips to be found within its tracklisting.
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