(Warner Bros.)
"Who's using who?" That's the big question Jack White poses on his latest outing with Meg. The actual line appears on the album's title track and refers to Uncle Sam exploiting its neighbors to the south, as in: "White Americans, what?/ Nothing better to do?/ Why don't you kick yourself out?/ You're an immigrant too." The next verse rhymes "Who's using who" with the zinger "You can't be a pimp and a prostitute, too."
Jack sounds comfortable and convincing in the role of protest singer. But that's a narrow path to walk, and he quickly veers off, broadening the theme of "who's using who?" to man vs. woman with "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do What You're Told)." The song, which boasts a memorable classic-rock chord progression, finds Jack playing the role of motivational speaker, cajoling a woman in a loveless relationship to move on. "You just keep on repeating all those empty 'I love yous,'" he sings. "Until you see that you deserve better, I'm gonna lay right into you."
Jack's a better stylist than songwriter, and he turns to outside material to best express the who's-using-who? issue. "Conquest," a Corky Robbins tune recorded by Patti Page, has a lyric that boils love down to a blood sport. The man woos the woman for the most selfish of reasons ("love to him was a joke") only to have her flip the script ("the hunted became the huntress"). The Stripes sell the song with an outlandish, outstanding blend of war-cry drums, reckless guitar and mariachi horns. As on past albums, Jack and Meg mostly stick to the formula of guitar, drums and analog tape, with the occasional keyboard popping up, like the funhouse organ that gooses "Icky Thump."
Jack delivers parting shots on the closing tracks — "Catch Hell Blues" (with a vicious slide guitar workout) and the back-porch country ditty "Effect and Cause" — reminding us that folks ultimately pay for their actions. The latter tune leavens the subject matter with a touch of humor: "I'm not saying I'm innocent, in fact the reverse/ But if you're heading to the grave, you don't blame the hearse." 4.5 stars —Wade Tatangelo
Not SoKute EP
SoKo
This quirky pop gem comes to us from Paris. SoKo include raven-haired female vocalist SoKo Girl and Remi, a man who plays a variety of guitars exceptionally well. SoKo Girl is a peculiar chanteuse with a fragile yet expressive voice that's refreshingly endearing. I stumbled across SoKo's blog-buzzer (200,000-plus plays on MySpace) "I'll Kill Her" several months ago and reviewed it for our Download section. It appears on their debut EP Not SoKute, a five-song collection that lives up to the strength of its single/leadoff track. The next number is a tender offering of devoted love called "Take My Heart." On "It's Raining Outside," SoKo Girl plaintively — in her half-sung/half-spoken manner — details a crumbling relationship. The self-explanatory "Shitty Day" is a humorous tune that should speak to anyone who has ever looked in the mirror and not liked what she saw. On "The Dandy Cowboys," the quiet guitars get a jolt from a little honky-tonk piano. The lyric once again finds SoKo Girl threatening murder — and managing to sound adorable. Not SoKute is available on iTunes and other online music stores. 3.5 stars —WT
Tried and True
The Detroit Cobras
(Bloodshot)
In the late '80s, two feisty chicks from Detroit got the idea of taking obscure old R&B tunes and dragging 'em into the garage. Five albums later, the trick still works. Unless you're an inveterate archivist, these tunes won't be familiar, which effectively renders them new. The big attraction here is the brash vocals of Rachel Nagy; her singing has become more assured over the years, without sacrificing abandon. She's like Chrissie Hynde with more of a blues predilection. Backed mostly by guitar, bass and drums, she gets plenty of room to put her personal stamp on tunes like "Nothing But a Heartache," "Leave My Kitten Alone" and James Brown's "If You Don't Think." 3.5 stars —Eric Snider
This article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 3, 2007.