I posted this when No Name was still a white-label surprise affair, but now that Jack White has officially released it, I figure it’s worth moving my review up to the top of the list. Obviously, it was written before the song titles and cover art and other credits were available. But none of that matters. My thoughts on the music stand. And I have to say, the Bandcamp streaming version below is the best one I’ve heard so far. I presume it was mastered for digital (probably by Third Man‘s in-house whiz Bill Skibbe), so unlike most of the vinyl rips out there, you can actually hear Jack’s vocals without EQing the shit out of it. And the guitar still eats your face. Enjoy.
No artwork. No credits. No lyric sheet. No press release. No photos. No song titles. No singles. No videos. No publicity. No problem. Not for Jack White, anyway.
For those who still haven’t heard, the innovative, iconoclastic indie-rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and entrepreneur surprise-released his latest album. As you might expect, he did it in his own unique way — by having staff at his Third Man Records stores in Nashville, Detroit and London give it away free with any purchase. Basically, it looks like a test pressing: A white vinyl record in a plain white sleeve, with No Name stamped on one side of the plain white label. The LP’s only distinguishing feature: The vinyl has Heaven And Hell etched into the run-out groove on one side, and Black And Blue on the other (more on that in a minute). It is arguably one of the coolest things White has ever done. Which is saying something. It is also arguably one of the best albums he’s ever made. Which is saying a whole lot more.
Of course, for my money, White has never made a truly bad album. Certainly not with The White Stripes. Nor with his on-again / off-again / supergroups / side-projects The Dead Weather and The Raconteurs. And not even as a solo artist. Do I like some of them more than others? Sure. But I don’t like many of them more than No Name. If you like White and his loudest, heaviest and rawest, you’ll likely feel the same.
If you think the generic nature of the packaging extends to the music, you could not be more wrong. Simply put, No Name has everything you (or at least I) want from a White album: The songs all rock relentlessly and unreservedly. They draw from his usual sources: Classic rock, Delta blues, garage rock, etc. The arrangements are fairly loose and freewheeling, but not self-indulgent. All the tracks are pretty lean and crisp, airy and muscular. Some of them sound like Led Zeppelin. Others might remind you at times of AC/DC, KISS, The Sweet or The Faces. On one song, he sounds a little bit like Eminem impersonating a tent-show evangelist. On another, I would swear on a stack of Bibles he’s channeling Van Halen.
Whatever the inspiration, all the drums are groovy, propulsive and solid. There are some keyboards here and there, but on the whole, these tunes are definitely guitar-based. The riffs are chunky and gritty and greasy and massive. The solos are pointed and focused. Hell, the guitar sound alone is sharp enough to take off the top of your head. The vocals are often at the top of his register and range, full of hoots and hollers and yells and howls and hysteria and attitude and swagger. There are tons of lyrics about God and angels and devils, heaven and hell and blessings, praying on your knees and walking into the light and fighting like Joshua at the battle of Jericho — and a bunch about being beaten up by love and bottoming / bombing out. I guess that explains those etchings.
Honestly, I have no idea what it’s all supposed to mean. If it’s even supposed to mean anything. It doesn’t feel like a concept album. But it does feel and sound like it all belongs and fits together. Like it was all written and recorded in one seismic burst of creativity and energy and momentum, capturing a moment in time while Jack was exorcizes some sort of personal demons or working through some shit. Or maybe he just had a bunch of leftover songs with vaguely similar lyrics, and decided to crank them out because he had a few days off between gigs. Who knows? With White, anything is possible.
That includes giving away one of the hands-down best albums of 2024. No ifs, ands or buts about it.
