The Puzzling Riddle of the White Stripes, Due to Release "Icky Thump" This June

I've always thought of myself as an analytical thinker; someone who thrives on the possibility that there's something deeper than what's displayed on the surface. Well, I've given up on cracking the White Stripes code. I just don't think there's any way to fully understand the complexities of this rock duo. Maybe it's just best to appreciate Jack and Meg's world of black, white, and red without fully grasping the "meaning" of it all. I mean, sure, Jack White himself has explained that their colors have symbolic meaning. White stands for innocence and red, for passion, but I think Jack just enjoys having something that sets his band apart from everyone else. He and Meg created this world where complicated drum solos just don't exist, where truth is the ultimate virtue, the number three has significant meaning, and having a bass player just isn't necessary. This band shouldn't be treated as every other band is because they have something unique: they're open to interpretation. Isn't that what great art is all about? It's like trying to make sense of an abstract painting by Picasso. You don't know exactly what's going on in every minute detail, yet you know there's some kind of deep meaning in every color and in each brush stroke.

I have this same kind of ardor for The White Stripes, who are planning to release their sixth album entitled "Icky Thump" this June. No doubt there has been enough to puzzle over with this album already, as the band has posted many interesting tidbits about it on their web site. First, on February 28th, they announced the name of the album without any explanation as to its meaning (I've since discovered that it's a spin on a common exclamatory phrase used primarily in Northern England). Also described is how it took Jack and Meg three "long" weeks to record in Nashville, Tennessee and that they are ready to release it soon. There are a few mentions that the band seemed "into it almost" as they worked in the studio and that Meg thinks it's "musical in nature". Finally, at the end of this article, there is a short video comprised of Jack singing a new song in the studio. As he sings, a figure dressed in a skeleton suit dances behind him and mimics Jack's hand gestures. It's curiously entertaining and gives fans an inside peek into the new Stripes album, despite the fact that the music has been somewhat distorted to avoid "song poaching".

March 23rd called for a link on whitestripes.com that simply read, "click here". Upon doing so, a crossword puzzle popped up without any title or instructions. Glancing through it, I found the word "you" and followed its path until I discovered the full name of a new song. It was then that I realized that this puzzle contained all of the new song titles from "Icky Thump". They are as follows:

1. Icky Thump
2. You Don't Know What Love Is
3. 300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues
4. Conquest
5. Bone Broke
6. Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn
7. St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air)
8. Little Cream Soda
9. Rag and Bone
10. I'm Slowly Turning Into You
11. A Martyr for My Love for You
12. Catch Hell Blues
13. Effect and Cause

"Icky Thump" has been described as having more guitar and a lot less piano (none, in fact) than their 2005 release "Get Behind Me Satan". Looks like we're getting back our Jack White sans the marimba and keys... However, Jack explained in a recent Rolling Stone interview that this album will be darker than anything they've done before. And there will actually be a horn section on the song "Conquest". Looks like the White Stripes' little red box may be expanding ever so slightly. In any case, the little candies of the world have much to rejoice over and, for now at least, we can contemplate the curious splendor that is "Icky Thump".