The White Stripes: A Retrospective

posted in: Music News

Alas, The White Stripes, the band that led the garage rock revival in the late ’90s and early aughts, has called it quits. Let’s take a look at what made the band so great and why we probably shouldn’t be so sad that they’re gone.

The White Stripes had some of the best music videos EVER

The moment that most of us were first introduced to The White Stripes was in that awesome video for “Fell In Love With A Girl”. Without even mentioning the song (which is great) there are so many reasons that makes this video so iconic. First of all, LEGOS! Also, the video was likely your introduction to the work of Michel Gondry. “The Hardest Button to Button” is another iconic video from The White Stripes. So iconic, in fact, that it gets the spoof treatment on The Simpsons, with a cameo from the Stripes themselves!

The White Stripes reminded us of candy

Red white. Who knew that those two colors would end up being so revolutionary? The White Stripes are an instantly recognizable brand; I don’t think I’ve ever seen the band perform in or pictures without either of the Whites not wearing something red. And that drum set too. The sugar cane candy coated looking swirl on the front of the kick is so totally The White Stripes. Funny that a band so crunchy adopted a look that so many associate with sweetness. Not that The White Stripes don’t have their softer moments”remember “We’re Going To Be Friends”?

The White Stripes had the most mysterious relationship dynamic in rock

I mean, weren’t they brother and sister or  married or  illegal immigrants or something? We could never figure out exactly what Meg and Jack were to each other. The speculation as to the nature of their relationship (Married? Related? Both?!) added a good dose of mystique to the group. For the record, Jack and Meg were married for part of the ’90s but got divorced in 2000. Seems like they’ve had a more healthy post-breakup relationship than most.

But hey, you shouldn’t let their breakup get you too down. I can think of at least two good reasons why we shouldn’t be sad that The White Stripes are gone.

First: Jack White is still the busiest man in showbiz

Poor Jack White. Having endured the last White Stripes record being the greatest flop of his career, the frontman retreats to his palatial estate and/or gutter only to occasionally reenter the public eye as a shadow of his former glory, a shell of a broken man. Oh wait, that never happened. Jack White is not some elusive, hermit-like cave person; the man is still fronting The Dead Weather for sure, probably still involved with The Raconteurs and on top of that he’s quite busy producing albums for country legends and running Third Man Records. Meg White”the more private of the duo”never was too fond of the limelight so she’s probably happier now that she won’t be hounded quite as frequently by the press.

Second: The White Stripes will almost certainly reunite

I mean, come on. Just in the past three years we’ve seen Blink 182, Pavement, Phish, Stone Temple Pilots and Rage Against the Machine all get back together for triumphant reunion tours and nostalgia trips. Plus, it doesn’t look like they broke up due to inter-band conflict (the only explanation that has come out of the Stripes camp is that they want to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way) so I suspect that this isn’t the last we’ve heard from The White Stripes.