Review: Jack White - Blunderbuss

 Using the simplest of means and a punk mentality, Detroit-born rocker Jack White has made himself a modern icon in the realms of classic rock and roll. The effortlessly simple and hard hitting riff on 2003's mega-hit Seven Nation Army gave this century one of it's first major rock hits that even the truest of classic rock enthusiasts couldn't resist and made the smooth blues rock of The White Stripes some of the most critically acclaimed music today which along with White's further work in The Racounters and The Dead Weather would go on to influence the likes of Band Of Skulls, Blood Red Shoes and The Kills. Having also gone on to collaborate with The Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck and Bob Dylan, and getting awarded the title of "Nashville Music City Ambassador" in 2011, it's clear that White has left a considerable impact on rock and roll as we know it.

 Blunderbuss sees White step out alone for the first time in recording with a collection of songs filled only with his own musical ideals and with his position as a modern rock great fairly well solidified, it's obviously an album where ideas on creating as swaggering a collection of songs as possible flow through with every sprawling blues riff, every rollicking bassline and every gracefully weathered vocal performance.
 Even in the eclectic range of musical styles that plays throughout Blunderbuss, this firm attitude of bluesy rock is ever poignant. Wither it's in the ripping punk performance of Sixteen Saltines where White's buzzsaw riffs and White's Jagger-esque shrill gives the song an extra rich texture to the gentler title track, a dusty country ballad. Even his rapid vocals throughout Freedom at 21 in accompaniment to the song's slick drum beat suggests White may have some kind of influence from his work with Wu-Tang Clan rapper RZA.
 Much alike The Stones, the songwriting on Blunderbuss swings between the more genuine lamenting likes of the all-acoustic charmer Love Interruption ad the earthly folk rock of On and On and On and the more fun playful swagger of Trash Tongue Talker and I Guess I Should Go To Sleep.
 So, Blunderbuss is pivotal in it's sheer ability to remain engaging throughout it's entire tenure. It's one of those albums where no two moments are the same and with White seeking out influences from classic blues bands, punk and garage bands, folk artists and the occasional piece of Vaudeville and making them all his very own creation, surprises to be found on every corner of the album maintaining a spirit of rock n' roll in even it's softest moments through it's earthly production and passionate performance. Jack White's mission to resurrect classic rock in this modern day and age has gained a subtle new level of power.

Jack White's Blunderbuss is out now via Third Man Records.