The White Stripes

White Blood Cells

CCCCC

Ohhh buddy! This album is Manifest Destiny. This is what America was destined to make. Once the Monroe Doctrine was laid down, it was a call for this land to be separate from European Imperialism. This really has nothing to do with anything  about this album. Except for the American part. This isn't American like Alan Jackson's tear in my beer epic "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning". NO. This is American like The Kingsmen. This is American like The Stooges, like The Ramones, like The Pixies. The key, putting "The" in front of your band's name. From the very first moment of this CD when that slight little bit of feedback calls in the beginning of "Dead Leaves On Dirty Ground" which includes one of the best lines written by a rock group in years (If you can hear a piano fall/you can hear me comin' down the hall). Swagger, that's what this CD has tons of. But at the same time Jack White's lyrics can counteract that swagger (it might seem silly/for me to think childish thoughts like these/but I'm so tired of actin' tough/that I'm gonna do just what I please/let's get married/in a big cathedral by a priest/cause if I'm the man that you love the most/you can say "I do" at least). The music is urgent, which is refreshing when we're faced with all this lethargic crap on "rock" stations. But that's a whole 'nother topic. This is exciting rock. If you've lost hope in what rock can do for you, pick this CD up. Or if you've known all along how great rock was, pick this up. It's great garage rock. A full band sound pulled off with a guitar and a drum kit. Oh did I mention that Meg White, the drummer is really hot? Now I did. Seriously, this is the best CD I've heard in years. Get it. Get all their other stuff too, it's just as good.