Icky Thump is the sixth and final studio album by American rock duo the White Stripes. It was released in June 2007 in the United States by Warner Bros. and Third Man, and internationally by XL.[2][3] Produced by vocalist and guitarist Jack White, it was recorded across three weeks at Blackbird Studio in January and February 2007, the longest recording time of any White Stripes album. Icky Thump is a garage rock and punk blues record with lyrics "about feeling positive about being alive".
Icky Thump was recorded and mixed entirely in analog at Nashville's Blackbird Studio by Joe Chiccarelli throughout January and early February 2007.[6][7] According to Chiccarelli in an interview with HitQuarters, the White Stripes had previously rehearsed and demoed around half the album, while the rest was conceived in the studio.[8] It was recorded on a Studer A827 with a 16-track tape head, rather than the band's usual 8-track,[8] and took three weeks—the longest of any White Stripes album.[3][6] In addition to his signature 1964 JB Hutto Montgomery Airline and 1950s Kay Hollowbody guitar, Jack would use his own 1954 and 1969 Fender Telecasters that were in the studio mainly for solos or for use with an Electro-Harmonix POG (polyphonic octave generator) pedal.[9]
Most songs were recorded on 15 tracks with one track relegated to a SMPTE timecode, except for "I'm Slowly Turning Into You" which required a second tape machine to record background vocals.[6] 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."[8] Mixing was completed in Blackbird Studio A by Chiccarelli and vocalist/guitarist Jack White.[6]
The vinyl version was mastered by Steve Hoffman.[6] It 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 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.
Composition
Following the experimentation of Get Behind Me Satan,[10]Icky Thump returns to the punk, garage rock and blues influences for which the band is known.[11] Additionally, the album introduces Scottish folk music, avant-garde, trumpet, and bagpipes into the formula. Jack said that the album would appeal to fans of the band's self-titled debut and told Blender in July 2007 that Icky Thump "is about feeling positive about being alive, taking deep breaths and just being really happy."[12] It reintroduces older characteristics such as the first studio recording of the early White Stripes song "Little Cream Soda". Entertainment Weekly's online site had an interview with Michel Gondry in which he said he would be directing a video for "I'm Slowly Turning Into You".[13] He mentions the idea for the video. Gondry also says that the video idea came first, and after mentioning the idea to Jack, he wrote the song to fit that idea during the recording of Get Behind Me Satan.[14] This video never came to fruition.
Regarding the title, a statement on the band's official website referencing the 1966Batman film humorously claims that "Though some residents of northern England might almost recognize the title, the Stripes stress they are spelling it (Icky Thump) wrong intentionally just for "kicks" and "metaphors," and to avoid a possible lawsuit from the estate of Billy Eckstine."[15] On Later with Jools Holland (broadcast June 1, 2007), Jack clarified that the title is derived from "ecky thump", a Lancashirecolloquial response of surprise. He heard its use as an exclamation by his wife Karen Elson, who is from Oldham, historically in Lancashire.[16]
The album artwork features Jack and Meg dressed as Pearlies, which is a traditional Cockney outfit somewhat contrary to the Northern dialect of the title. In the liner notes of Icky Thump, "Electra" is thanked on the second line, just after God. According to Ben Blackwell, Jacks nephew, this is not directed towards the radio DJ, Electra, but to a pet Jack and drummer Meg White used to have.
Release and promotion
The USB drive album artwork for Icky Thump, stylized illustrations of Jack (left), and Meg (right). The hats are the covers to the drives.
The White Stripes announced the completion of Icky Thump on February 28, 2007. On May 30, 2007, Chicago radio station Q101 aired the entire album without the band's permission.[18] Jack called into the station and reacted angrily about them playing it.[19]
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,[20] Sasquatch, and Bonnaroo festivals and culminated in the band's release show on June 20, 2007, at the site of the former West Hollywood Tower Records on Sunset Blvd., temporarily rechristened Icky Thump. Records.[21][22]
In addition to being released on CD and 180gram vinyl, the band released the album on a limited edition 512MB USB drive [23] which was designed by British artist Stanley Chow[24] There are two versions, one of which depicts Jack, the other depicting Meg. The manufacturing was limited to 3,333 of each,[23] and were shipped the week of the U.S. release. Each drive contained the album in Apple lossless format.
A special mono mix of Icky Thump was available on 180gram vinyl for a short time to Third Man Vault Premium Account subscribers.
Fans standing outside of a rebranded Tower Records in 2007
Icky Thump received critical acclaim, with an overall average rating of 80 out of 100 at Metacritic.[25] Barry Nicolson with British magazine NME wrote, "Icky Thump is brilliant, there's no way around that."[31] Commenting on the album's "fuller sound and relaxed flights of fancy," Heather Phares of AllMusic said "Icky Thump is a mature, but far from stodgy" album, and that "it's just great fun to hear the band play."[26]Jody Rosen, writing for Blender, called the album "the sound of a band not stretching out so much as digging in: burrowing deeper into loamy soil they know well."[36] Ultimately giving the album 3.5 out of 5 stars and giving an (A−) on his website,[37]Robert Christgau, with Rolling Stone, 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, Jack White builds monuments. They're suitable for awestruck visits. But they're no place to settle down."[33]
In one of the more negative reviews, Josh Tyrangiel of Time remarked, "The White Stripes are too weird and talented to be boring, but it sounds like they might be a little bored."[38]
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 No. 17 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.[39]
Track listing
All lyrics are written by Jack White, except where noted; all music is composed by Jack and Meg White, except where noted.
↑Ecky is described as being a Lancashire slang equivalent of heck (itself a euphemism for hell) according to Partridge's Dictionary of Historical Slang, Penguin 1972, entry for Heck.
↑Christgau, Robert; Fricke, David; Hoard, Christian; Sheffield, Rob (December 17, 2007). "The Top 50 Albums of 2007". Rolling Stone. 17 – The White Stripes: Icky Thump. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007.
↑Center, Marc (June 13, 2009). "Weather Report"(PDF). Billboard. p.22. Archived(PDF) from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2022– via American Radio History.
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