***”Music, Books and Psycho Space Robots” is a regular column published on Primary Ignition by Kevin Kenealy, staff writer and Nightmare Fuel Provider. The views expressed here are his, and do not reflect the views of the staff of Primary Ignition.***

Photo from hkgfm.net.

Even though I kind of forgot about the White Stripes (they’ve been on hiatus the last couple years), I was disheartened to find out they broke up.

Yes, I know that music changes and time goes on, but this was a group that turned me on to that grungy, bluesy garage rock. The White Stripes was the first band of its kind that I listened to. The first time I heard the White Stripes it was 2003 with their hit “Seven Nation Army” and I never heard a song so captivating. That bass line tuned you in to a song that was rock, but had such an interesting fresh sound to it that it stood all on its own.

I was so young at that point – 16 years old and a junior in high school – and I hadn’t really listened to groups like Nirvana or the Strokes yet. I also don’t recall groups out there such as The Black Keys that have done well in more recent years.

I’ve listened to three Stripes albums in full – Elephant, Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump. The common thread on these albums is you’ll hear the raw power of Jack’s guitar combined with the loose cannon of Meg’s drumming. For a band that had only two musicians, they sounded like they had four or five.

Now much of the time what you’ll hear from the Stripes is grungy, dirty raw rock that has a blues undertone. But then there are those moments where Jack takes his guitar to more art rock caliber places, making white noise sounds, or Meg eases up on her drumming and Jack almost goes into a ballad like on “Jolene.” There are other times when the group would experiment with less serious rock and play a song like “Little Ghost,” that is more of a sing-along than a rock song.

So now that the Stripes have broken up, I have decided to compile a list of my all-time favorite White Stripes songs and why I chose them.

5) “Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine” – This is a hidden gem off Elephant. Like many Stripes songs, its lyrics are simple and to the point. Most of what White sings is the chorus, “Girl, you have no faith in medicine,” but I like the idea that medicine is the theme and it is sung repetitively here. Medicine is so forced down our throats in this country and to me, Jack’s reinforcing that idea. The pace and guitar remind me of the Hives’ “Hate to Say I Told You So,” which gets my adrenaline going no matter what mood I’m in.

4) “Seven Nation Army” – I have heard this song a thousand times and still say that bass line is so intriguing. It takes you right into the song. Take it out and you don’t have half as good a song. I’ve heard other songs and bands with good bass, but there’s something about it here, combined with White’s voice that takes me into this song every time.

3) ”Jolene” – Although I have never listened to the De Stijl album in full, I’m glad to have listened to this song. This song shows the Stripes are more than just a raw rock band and can put out a ballad with the best of them. This is a song that I feel is as powerful as their more adrenaline pumping stuff because they successfully made the story of Jolene believable with White’s singing from the heart and Meg’s softening up on the drum kit.

2) “Little Cream Soda” – I originally didn’t like the Icky Thump album all that much when I used to listen to it, but I listened to it again for this article and found some new songs I really enjoyed. “Little Cream Soda,” with Jack’s powerful guitar and use of the repetitive lyrics “Oh Well” make this song a rush of emotion that doesn’t stop from start to finish.

1)”Icky Thump” – This is a perfect song to start off the Icky Thump album. It’s hardly anticlimactic, but rather starts the album on a roller coaster going downhill. Everything about this first song is characteristic White Stripes – it has the bluesy rock but is also filled in with what sounds like white noise from Jack’s guitar to give the song more of an art rock feel. This is my favorite Stripes song because while it’s filled with that bluesy dirty sound, it’s also unpredictable with Meg’s random cymbal crashes and Jack’s improvisational guitar work.

With that, I will miss the White Stripes, but can learn to fully appreciate Jack’s other groups such as The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, who are no longer in their infancy. Thank you White Stripes; it’s been a pleasure.

To see the full statement from The White Stripes, click here, or visit their website, www.whitestripes.com.

Front page photo from wallpapers-diq.com.