09.
The White Stripes
Icky Thump

A rare ‘better than expected’ entry, I think this may be my favourite album by the perennially not-quite-as-good-as-they-should-be White Stripes. The title track is, admittedly, based around a riff lifted directly from Led Zeppelin, but it is used brilliantly, so all is forgiven. Indeed, Jack White’s plagiarism knows no bounds, as on the chorus of ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As Your Told)’ he shamelessly steals from a track that appears in the musical masterpiece that is Greece 2. I adore the simple quality of ‘Rag & Bone’ and ‘I’m Slowly Turning Into You’ is a track Jack White has been suggesting he would write for years, basing the whole song around a Hammond. ‘Effect & Cause’ is a lovely way to end an excellent record, from a band that – for me – have been labelled ‘potential’ for a very long time now. Great to see them finally realising some of it.