Jack White - No Name ( 2024 )

     The most impressive bit of viral marketing last year was Jack White's release of No Name. At first, he gave away white label pressings of the record with purchases at his Third Man Record stores. The media buzz was immediate. It was then leaked online. More buzz. It was heralded as his best album since The White Stripes. Then he started doing pop up shows with very little advanced notice. He sold limited edition blue vinyl pressings at those shows. Eventually, it was given a regular release for the rest of us slobs. But does the album live up to all the hype? Hell yeah!

     

     No Name opens with "Old Scratch Blues" which signals a return to White's garage blues sound. The guitars are distorted and the drums are played with a heavy hand and a lead foot. "Bless Yourself" is a song about the choice of putting your life in God's hands or taking charge of your own life. I love the line, "If you're a cop arrest yourself". However, the album really kicks in on the track "That's How I'm Feeling". This is classic Jack White. The verse is quiet and groovy, then the chorus comes in with buzz saw guitars and White's plaintive moaning. The next track, "It's Rough on Rats", is another Jack White song that pays homage to his guitar hero, Jimmy Page. If you've never seen the documentary, "This Might Get Loud" with White, Page and The Edge, you need to fix that. 

     Side One is called Heaven and Hell. It's full of religious content, like "Old Scratch", "Bless Yourself", and the track "Archbishop Harold Holmes", which sounds like Jack White delivering a sermon. Side Two is called Black and Blue. It opens with "Tonight (Was a Long Time Ago)", which is kind of a swaggering, Stones homage, if The Stones were a garage band. "Underground" is another song inspired by that Jimmy Page slide guitar sound. Then there's a run of three straight, pedal to the metal rockers, "Number One With a Bullet", "Morning at Midnight" and "Missionary". The album closer, "Terminal Archenemy Endling" has the best guitar performance on No Name. It's a slower blues number that's also super trippy. The sequencing on No Name is perfect and it's a 5 Star album. That is all. Peace.