''Icky Thump'' is the sixth and final studio album by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
duo
The White Stripes
The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums wit ...
, released through
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
and
Third Man Records
Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, and Soho, London—with ...
in June 2007, with
XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group.
Although only releasing an average of six albu ...
handling the United Kingdom release. Its first release came on June 15, 2007, in Germany, with the release for the rest of Europe occurring on June 18 and the rest of the world on June 19.
''Icky Thump'' entered the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
at number one
["The White Stripes – Icky Thump global chart positions and trajectories"]
aCharts.us. Retrieved June 30, 2007. and debuted at number two on the
''Billboard'' 200, becoming the duo's highest-charting album in the US, with 223,000 copies sold.
By late July, ''Icky Thump'' was certified gold in the United States. On February 10, 2008, the album won a
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Ho ...
.
Recording and production
After ''
Get Behind Me Satan
''Get Behind Me Satan'' is the fifth studio album by the American rock duo the White Stripes, released on June 7, 2005, on V2 Records. Though still basic in production style, the album marked a distinct change from its guitar-heavy 2003 predecess ...
'', ''Icky Thump'' marks a return to the
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
,
garage rock and
blues influences for which the band is known. Additionally, the album introduces
Scottish folk music
Scottish folk music (also Scottish traditional music) is a genre of folk music that uses forms that are identified as part of the Scottish musical tradition. There is evidence that there was a flourishing culture of popular music in Scotland du ...
,
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
,
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
, and
bagpipes into the formula, whilst simultaneously reintroducing older characteristics such as the first studio recording of the early White Stripes song "Little Cream Soda".
''Icky Thump'' was recorded and mixed entirely in analog at
Nashville's Blackbird Studio by
Joe Chiccarelli
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
.
According to Chiccarelli in an interview with
HitQuarters, the band had already rehearsed and demoed around half the album, with the rest being conceived in the studio.
The album took almost three weeks to record—the longest of any White Stripes album.
The recording differed from previous albums in that White had the comparative luxury of recording to 16-track analog rather than his usual 8-track.
Also, Chiccarelli said: "We spent a little more time than he is used to experimenting and trying different things on that album, whether it was different ways to record the drums or the vocals, or different arrangements, or cutting takes together."
Trumpet player Regulo Aldama, who appears on "Conquest", was discovered by Jack White at a local Mexican restaurant.
Jack White
John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...
said that the album would appeal to fans of the band's
self-titled debut, suggesting a stripped-down garage rock sound. A statement on the band's official website (spuriously attributed to "Kitayna Ireyna Tatanya Kerenska Alisof" of the ''Moscow Bugle'', a reference to the
1966 ''Batman'' film) humorously claims that:
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
s online site had an interview with
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...
in which he said he would be directing a video for "I'm Slowly Turning Into You". He mentions the idea for the video. Gondry also says that the video idea came first, and after mentioning the idea to Jack White, White wrote the song to fit that idea.
On May 30, 2007, Chicago radio station
Q101 aired the entire album without the band's permission. Jack called into the station and reacted angrily about them playing it. In the liner notes of ''Icky Thump'', "Electra" is thanked on the second line, just after God. According to
Ben Blackwell, Jack White's nephew, this is not directed towards the radio DJ, Electra, but to a pet Jack and Meg White used to have.
The White Stripes announced the completion of ''Icky Thump'' on February 28, 2007. The title is derived from
"ecky thump", a
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
colloquial
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
response of surprise, popularized by
an episode of the 1970s UK comedy series ''
The Goodies
The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940–12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television com ...
''. On ''
Later with Jools Holland'' (broadcast June 1, 2007) Jack attributed the album's name to its use as an exclamation by
his wife, who is from
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...
, historically in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
. He added that the deliberate misspelling was to make it easier for an American audience to identify with. The liner notes for ''Icky Thump'' also suggest the spelling variation was due to concerns over copyright infringement.
The
Pearly Kings and Queens
Pearly Kings and Queens, known as pearlies, are an organised charitable tradition of working-class culture in London, England.
Henry Croft
The practice of wearing clothes decorated with mother-of-pearl buttons is first associated with Henry Cr ...
costume theme, which the band used for this album, is a traditional
Cockney
Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...
outfit, somewhat contrary to the Northern dialect of the title.
Theme
Jack White told ''
Blender
A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating me ...
'' in July 2007 that ''Icky Thump'' "is about feeling positive about being alive, taking deep breaths and just being really happy."
Promotion and release
The album artwork features Jack and Meg dressed as
Pearlies.
To promote ''Icky Thump'' before its release, the band distributed custom-designed boxes and previewed tracks from the record through
Ice Cream Man. The ice cream promotion focused on the Coachella, Sasquatch, and
Bonnaroo
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...
festivals and culminated in the band's release show on June 20, 2007, at the site of the former
West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...
Tower Records on Sunset Blvd., temporarily rechristened Icky Thump. Records.
In addition to being released on CD and 180 gram vinyl, the band released the album on a limited edition 512 MB USB drive
which was designed by British artist
Stanley Chow There are two versions, one of which depicts Jack, the other depicting Meg. The manufacturing was limited to 3,333 of each,
and were shipped the week of the U.S. release. Each drive contained the album in
Apple lossless format.
The 180 g vinyl edition contains alternate versions of both "Icky Thump" and "Rag and Bone". "Icky Thump" is a shorter, radio edit mix with. It contains a short section where the main guitar riff is mixed to sound like it's being played through an AM radio. This mix also edits the penultimate chorus to be 14 seconds shorter before the guitar solo. "Rag and Bone" is also a different mix and contains different Jack White vocals for each verse (possibly the original
guide vocals and there are no vocals from Meg) and is missing the harmonies from the last chorus.
The vinyl version was mastered by
Steve Hoffman.
A special mono mix of ''Icky Thump'' was available on 180 gram vinyl for a short time to Third Man Vault Premium Account subscribers.
Reception
The album received critical acclaim, with an overall average rating of 80 out of 100 at
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
.
Barry Nicolson with British magazine ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' wrote, "''Icky Thump'' is brilliant, there's no way around that."
Commenting on the album's "fuller sound and relaxed flights of fancy," Heather Phares of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
said "''Icky Thump'' is a mature, but far from stodgy" album, and that "it's just great fun to hear the band play."
Jody Rosen
Jody Rosen (born June 21, 1969 in New York City) is an American journalist and author. He is a contributing writer for ''The New York Times Magazine''.
Career Journalism
Rosen served as critic-at-large for '' T: The New York Times Style Magaz ...
, writing for ''
Blender
A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating me ...
'', called the album "the sound of a band not stretching out so much as digging in: burrowing deeper into loamy soil they know well." In one of the more negative reviews,
Josh Tyrangiel
Josh Tyrangiel is an American journalist. He was previously the deputy managing editor of ''TIME'' magazine and an editor at ''Bloomberg Businessweek''.Stephanie Clifford (November 17, 2009"Josh Tyrangiel Named Editor of BusinessWeek"/ref> In Ju ...
of ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' remarked, "The White Stripes are too weird and talented to be boring, but it sounds like they might be a little bored." Ultimately giving the album 3.5 out of 5 stars and giving an (A-) on his website,
Robert Christgau, with ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'', summed up the return album this way "Although the new constructions don't entice as consistently as they should, their noise stays with you. And what that noise stands for is itself." He added, "Like his sometime heroes
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
, Jack White builds monuments. They're suitable for awestruck visits. But they're no place to settle down."
On December 6, 2007, ''Icky Thump'' was nominated for four 2007 Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Album, Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the single "Icky Thump", winning Best Alternative Album and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. Q Magazine named Icky Thump as the 2nd best album of 2007. Furthermore, the album placed #17 on ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
''s list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.
Track listing
Personnel
The White Stripes
*
Jack White
John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...
– vocals, guitar,
mandolin,
keyboards,
synthesizers, 1st spoken narrative on "Rag and Bone", street talk on "I'm Slowly Turning Into You",
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
,
mixing
*
Meg White
Megan Martha White (born December 10, 1974) is an American former musician and singer who was the drummer of Detroit rock duo The White Stripes. Her music career began when, on a whim, she played on her future White Stripes bandmate Jack White' ...
– drums, percussion, backing vocals, lead vocals on "St. Andrew", 2nd spoken narrative on "Rag and Bone", street talk on "I'm Slowly Turning Into You"
Additional personnel
*Regulo Aldama –
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
on "Conquest"
*Jim Drury –
Scottish smallpipes
The Scottish smallpipe is a bellows-blown bagpipe re-developed by Colin Ross and many others, adapted from an earlier design of the instrument. There are surviving bellows-blown examples of similar historical instruments as well as the mouth-bl ...
on "Prickly Thorn, but Sweetly Worn" and "St. Andrew"
*Steve Hoffman –
vinyl mastering
*Vlado Meller – digital mastering
*Joe Chiccarelli - recording and mixing engineer
*Lowell Reynolds - recording and mixing second engineer
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Notes
References
*Dolon, John (July 2007)
"The White Stripes: New Jack City"''Blender'' Volume unknown: pp. 109–112
External links
''Icky Thump'' – The Leak stream of the whole album from
MTV.com
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
{{Authority control
The White Stripes albums
2007 albums
Warner Records albums
XL Recordings albums
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album
Albums produced by Jack White
Third Man Records albums