The White Stripes’ ‘White Blood Cells’ Was The Perfect Balance Of Old And New

The White Stripes In Concert
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For many music fans, White Blood Cells was their first taste of the White Stripes. It’s true that the band’s first two records had a decent following, and were admired by the folks who were deep divers on music blogs, but it wasn’t until “Fell In Love With A Girl” and its innovative video blew up on MTV that a wide audience of listeners were introduced to the Detroit, MI natives. At first, they were part of a seemingly endless of number of post-punk revival groups colloquially known as the “The” bands (Strokes, Hives, Vines, in particular). These acts were suddenly receiving an endless amount of hype in the music press and, at the time, one could have thought the Stripes would be briefly cool only to then fade away, as so many of their contemporaries did. But time has proven the opposite to be true; the White Stripes would release great album after great album, while Jack White became one of the most important music figures of the 21st century. Since White Blood Cells was the first album that exposed them to their biggest audience, it can’t help but feel like “The Place Where It All Started,” even though it was actually their third studio effort.

Perhaps, the first thing you notice about this album when you turn it on is how raw it is. “Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground” starts out with a bit of guitar feedback that can momentarily catch listeners off guard, as it launches straight into a den of fuzz. Then, we go into “Hotel Yorba,” a fun, lo-fi sing-a-long that almost sounds like it was made up on the spot. This feeling recurs throughout the record; so many of these songs just have an off-the-cuff vibe to them, as though Jack and Meg just had something going in the studio and decided to roll with it. That’s never more than true on “Little Room,” a minute-long number that annoys you to death at first, but can’t help but charm you the longer you listen. There’s just a fun, ramshackle vibe here, and it works well enough that even what may initially feel like the worst moments turn into the best.

In retrospect, it seems telling that this was the last White Stripes album before they got big. That is to say, it was the last album they recorded as an obscure act without any serious expectations. The follow-up, 2003’s Elephant would see the band refine their sound considerably, and that would become even more true with 2005’s Get Behind Me Satan. To be clear, those are both fantastic records and fit well in the group’s canon, but White Blood Cells was the last time the Stripes could freely make music without playing to a mainstream audience of fans and critics. As the band’s popularity increased, they softened the edges. This was the last time they ever be this freewheeling with their approach, and it’s become quite appreciable in retrospect.

Of course, this isn’t to say that White’s songwriting had gotten a bit more mature on this one. On “Offend In Every Way,” we see the genesis of Elephant tracks like “I Want To Be The Boy To Warm Your Mother’s Heart” and “The Hardest Button to Button.” White had a natural ability to tell the story of someone who wants to make a positive impression and just can’t pull it off (maybe that’s why he’s so tough to crack in interviews.) You could also say this about “I’m Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman,” which is told from the point of view of someone whose manners have “slowly died away.” The theme of wanting to be refined and sophisticated but coming up short appears constantly; perhaps White was anticipating some of the backlash the band’s raw sound would receive once they found a larger audience.

But while there are certainly a few gloomy moments here, there’s also plenty of joy. Beyond the aforementioned “Hotel Yorba,” there’s also “We’re Going To Be Friends,” which is quite possibly the prettiest song White ever penned. Written about a grade school friendship, it’s such an utterly sincere moment. If you had listened to the first eight songs and thought “I like this, but these guys seem a little ‘too cool for school’ for me,” this song was the perfect antidote.

White Blood Cells is a transitional album, which is a label that can scare listeners away, but in this case, it’s a good thing. It combines the immediacy of their self-titled debut and De Stijl, with the maturity of Elephant and Get Behind Me Satan. Essentially, this album was to White Stripes as Let It Be was to The Replacements; it was the album that caught them in between two periods of their career, and managed to combine the best of both. And 15 years later, this album feels more vital than ever; it’s quite possibly the best album the White Stripes ever made.

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