Jack White/Third Man

[StopRemembering]

Now that Lazaretto's release is only a few weeks away a bunch of stuff is starting to pop up.

NPR talked to Jack for All Songs Considered, it's a very relaxed interview & they play clips of some new songs including the previously unheard "Want & Able" & "Temporary Ground". They don't sound anything like what I was expecting after hearing "High Ball Stepper" & "Lazaretto", they remind me more of leftover Blunderbuss songs. Which I don't mind because I ADORE that record.

Jack's on the cover of this week's Rolling Stone, and you can hear "Just One Drink" on their website.

If you're a member of the Vault you can download a studio version of "The Power of My Love" & a live recording of "Top Yourself" recorded just 2 days ago during tour rehearsals. "Top Yourself" sounds so fucking different, I dig it. This tour is gonna be a monster.

And lastly, a possible spoiler for the upcoming tour: Spoiler: There's a heavy rumour going around that for the upcoming LA shows Jack will be backed by a band that includes members of both the Peacocks and the Buzzards. No word if that's how the entire tour is gonna work but it seems likely. Or maybe he'll rotate members for each show. Who knows, he's nuts. Regardless I'm really hoping Carla Azar & Lillie May Rische make appearances, they're wonderfully talented.

[october_midnight]

Jack White 'almost never' talks to Meg, says she wasn't that supporting during the White Stripes days.

[jmtd]

Jack White 'almost never' talks to Meg, says she wasn't that supporting during the White Stripes days.

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I feel a bit sorry for Meg, she obviously had serious issues, the 2007 tour that was cancelled (with a date in Newcastle UK. Jesus. NOBODY plays my home town, ever. The one time they do...) was because she had anxiety problems. Perhaps her quiet nature was part of all that. She got a lot of shit from music snobs and drummers for her style, too.

[scorpiusdiamond]

She never wanted to be in the band, that's all there was to it

[FernandoDante]

Jack White really really thinks The Black Keys copied The White Stripes. I like both bands, and think they are different enough and obviously took different career paths. What do you think?

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...-keys-20140530

[Frozen Beach]

I find this funny. Anyone know the name of the band that The White Stripes were accused of ripping off? It was some band with two dudes, and it wasn't The Black Keys.

[BRoswell]

I like Jack White. I think he's a pretty smart guy, but he REALLY needs to stop putting other artists down. I get that he's a very opinionated guy, but he doesn't look any better than the people who insult him when he talks about them.

[StopRemembering]

I find this funny. Anyone know the name of the band that The White Stripes were accused of ripping off? It was some band with two dudes, and it wasn't The Black Keys.

I think you're talking about the Flat Duo Jets, although Jack's always openly admitted that they were a major influence on the Stripes.

I couldn't care less about this Black Keys thing, but I do wish the press would stop bringing it up & Jack didn't sound so fucking childish when asked about it. It's just boring gossip rag bullshit. Talk about the new record or the tour or the Vault or the future of TMR or something that actually matters.

[richardp]

I find this funny. Anyone know the name of the band that The White Stripes were accused of ripping off? It was some band with two dudes, and it wasn't The Black Keys.

The Von Bondies. Jack even beat the shit out of the singer once at a nightclub.

Also I don't think Jack needs to apologize for shit. Black Keys and Lana Del Rey really suck. Not an ounce of originality in either of those artists.

[StopRemembering]

And now Jack's issued a pretty sincere sounding statement apologizing for & clarifying what he's said about the Black Keys, Meg White & the record industry.

Good on you, Jackie. Now let it die.

And I don't even want to talk about this but what he said about Meg in that Rolling Stone interview never seemed negative to me, just kind of hurt & sad. It sounds like there were a lot of times through the Stripes' run where they were both in situations they didn't want to be in. Some people want to be famous, some people are just in the right place at the right time & end up that way. I think Meg is the latter, I mean even Jack has said it's insane that the Stripes became such a huge thing if you look at who they are, what they did & how they did it. Meg isn't interested in the spotlight, and you can't be around Jack without getting some of it on you, so she disappeared after the breakup. End of. A lot of people I know who like the Stripes are really eager to make Jack the villain in their breakup but that's such a pointlessly adversarial way of looking at it. Ultimately no one other than Jack & Meg know what happened, and that's fine, they don't owe anyone an explanation. In the end it's just another stupid tabloid 'story' that no one should give a fuck about.

The Von Bondies. Jack even beat the shit out of the singer once at a nightclub.

Nah, they were a 4 piece that came up the same time as the Stripes. There was a rumour for a while that Jack wrote "Fell in Love With a Girl" about their bassist 'cause she's a redhead & they were dating at the time. The first Von Bondies album was recorded in Jack's living room, he helped them come up in the Detroit scene, so he took offense when Stollsteimer started going around talking shit about Jack, calling him a sellout & whatever after the Stripes got big. Ugly, stupid situation all around.

[FernandoDante]

The Von Bondies. Jack even beat the shit out of the singer once at a nightclub.

Also I don't think Jack needs to apologize for shit. Black Keys and Lana Del Rey really suck. Not an ounce of originality in either of those artists.

Nope. Flat Duo Jets.

But Jack admits they were an inspiration.

[richardp]

Nah, they were a 4 piece that came up the same time as the Stripes. There was a rumour for a while that Jack wrote "Fell in Love With a Girl" about their bassist 'cause she's a redhead & they were dating at the time. The first Von Bondies album was recorded in Jack's living room, he helped them come up in the Detroit scene, so he took offense when Stollsteimer started going around talking shit about Jack, calling him a sellout & whatever after the Stripes got big. Ugly, stupid situation all around.

Ahhh ok. Literally the only Von Bondies song I've ever heard was that song of theirs that was the Rescue Me theme song. I just remember them having a huge beef.

[scorpiusdiamond]

That paragraph about The Black Keys feels like it's dripping with sarcasm and irony to me.
edit: Also, christ, Rolling Stone shoehorned in a Bieber reference in that article? For fuckin' shame.

[scorpiusdiamond]

Apologies for the bump but Lazaretto is streaming on iTunes (edit: US only, nuts), which almost always means it's been leaked.

[richardp]

I feel like being old fashioned with this LP and actually waiting to hear the whole thing via spinning the Ultra LP on release day. Anyone who listens to all of it, is the album more Highball Stepper level shit or just it sink back into the backwoods country sound that Jack has gotten into lately? (Not saying it's a bad sound)

[Digital Twilight]

Apologies for the bump but Lazaretto is streaming on iTunes (edit: US only, nuts), which almost always means it's been leaked.

It's on iTunes in the UK now. Listening to it as I speak.

[scorpiusdiamond]

I do not rate it, which sucks...

[StopRemembering]

I feel like being old fashioned with this LP and actually waiting to hear the whole thing via spinning the Ultra LP on release day. Anyone who listens to all of it, is the album more Highball Stepper level shit or just it sink back into the backwoods country sound that Jack has gotten into lately? (Not saying it's a bad sound)

It's jarringly mixed between country stuff & experimental/guitar stuff. There are some really fantastic things on here (Would You Fight For My Love, Temporary Ground & That Black Bat Licorice are my favourites) but most of it is mediocre at best. Blunderbuss is way better IMO, far more consistent.

[BRoswell]

I definitely want to give it a listen WITHOUT fucking iTunes interrupting the flow to assure me that, yes, I am listening to the new Jack White album, but I dug it. Not as much as Blunderbuss, but that album had to grow on me as well, so we'll see what happens.

[BRoswell]

[Kid Charlemagne]

I thought it was pretty bland and boring overall. There are some good songs on there, I think the last half of the album is okay, but it's not breaking any new ground. I think my biggest problem is Jack as a lyricist, he's never been a strong wordsmith, but it's glaring on here. "Three Women" has laughably bad lyrics, and that sort of sets the tone from there. It sort of feels rushed and half assed, like he's closing himself off from more. JW likes to rag on The Black Keys, but this album is probably just as disappointing and frustrating as Turn Blue.

[BrokenSpiral]

Man this album is pretty bad. I'm disappointed. Boring country music is not where he shines. Oh well, moving on.

[richardp]

Dammit, you guys aren't making me feel very great about holding off on listening. I'm still ultimately going to pick up the LP though because I'm a sucker for that things endless amount of physical gimmicks.

[jmtd]

Glad I held off, but I'm still going to preview it to make my own mind up.

[ImTheWiseJanitor]

All and all, I like it! I think people have spoken enough about Blunderbuss being better overall, but this is definitely its own record, as opposed to feeling like "Blunderbuss b-sides." It's generally more of the same, though, in a good way. "Would You Fight For My Love?" is siiick. I'll have to listen to it again tonight. I feel like it has potential to change its standing with me if I digest it some more.

Also, I have no idea how the hologram thing works. Maybe it's just the lighting in the room or something, but I ain't seeing that shit at all.

Edit: It WAS the lighting. Pretty neat to look at, though! Kind cool that it's dependent on the angle of the light, and it warps around in size and position as the light source moves.

And if you're planning on getting it, you might as well pre-order it from Third Man or whoever else for $20 before it shoots up to $30, or even higher if they ever stop pressing the "Ultra" LPs.

[StopRemembering]

Been listening to this album non stop in my car, it's grown on me considerably. "Just One Drink" is really fun to sing along to when you're zooming down the highway with the windows down. I still think Blunderbuss is significantly stronger & that almost every song could benefit from a little more refining & another verse or two, but overall I'm really enjoying it.

[dominik]

On a first listen I think that it's on the one hand REALLY good with songs like Lazaretto, Would you fight for my love, high ball stepper, the black licorice, i tink i found the culprit.. but the other songs kind of feel like filler songs.

[jmtd]

Great reception in the uk broadsheets, 5/5 in telegraph and observer. Going to see if I can pick it up for <£20 this week.

[SIR.LONDONCLEANLILY]

I really feel like "Rockstars" like Jack White are partially responsible for the current sad state Rock music is in as well as assisting in the pusifaction of our youth! He dresses like a douche, has hair like a douche, tries to dance like a douche, writes douche lyrics, delivers vocals like a douche, puts out songs with ICP like a douche, makes the resurgence of vinyl douchey (which is sad because I love vinyl just not all of his douchey gimmicks), plays guitar like he is some guitar god but he isn't (he is just a douche-God), he no longer plays in that one band he was in that was good like a douche and plenty of other douche things. I really do like the White Stripes but he has freaking ran being a douche into the ground. I gave a couple new songs a listen but rather than enjoyment all I experienced was ear douchery. OMG Jack, you are so retro! RETRO DOUCHE THAT IS!!!

[dominik]

I really feel like "Rockstars" like Jack White are partially responsible for the current sad state Rock music is in as well as assisting in the pusifaction of our youth! He dresses like a douche, has hair like a douche, tries to dance like a douche, writes douche lyrics, delivers vocals like a douche, puts out songs with ICP like a douche, makes the resurgence of vinyl douchey (which is sad because I love vinyl just not all of his douchey gimmicks), plays guitar like he is some guitar god but he isn't (he is just a douche-God), he no longer plays in that one band he was in that was good like a douche and plenty of other douche things. I really do like the White Stripes but he has freaking ran being a douche into the ground. I gave a couple new songs a listen but rather than enjoyment all I experienced was ear douchery. OMG Jack, you are so retro! RETRO DOUCHE THAT IS!!!

what do you think he is again?