5 Must-Hear Tracks From The White Stripes’ Final Studio Album ‘Icky Thump’

The White Stripes’ final album, Icky Thump, documents the Detroit duo at the height of their success. Unlike most bands nearing a breakup, Jack and Meg White’s sixth studio album still sounds inspired. Though they wouldn’t officially disband until 2011, the tracks below show how The White Stripes were certainly not running low on ideas.

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“Icky Thump”

The White Stripes returned to their garage rock and blues origins on Icky Thump. This followed Get Behind Me Satan, which featured more diverse instrumentation: marimba, tympani, mandolin, bells, and piano. Though a heavy stomp propels the title track, it also includes frantic synth breaks as The White Stripes critique U.S. immigration policy. If you’re a band and you’re going to drop one final album, this is the way to open it.

“You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)”

Joe Chiccarelli recorded Icky Thump at Blackbird Studio in Nashville. Sonically, it’s The White Stripes’ most hi-fi sounding album. But the high-end studio didn’t remove the band’s rawness. “You Don’t Know What Love Is” could be the sister song to “Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground”. But it also echoes Jack’s work with The Raconteurs.  

“Conquest”

Patti Page’s orchestral pop hit from 1952 became a garage rock resurrection on Icky Thump. The track describes a man who sees a woman as a “thing” he’ll easily conquer. However, blinded by his certainty, the man soon finds himself being the one who’s hunted. The woman leads him helplessly down the aisle as Jack and Meg bash through a distorted flamenco groove.

“Little Cream Soda”

Though Jack’s guitars often sound like they’re possessed by punk demons, part of his duo’s appeal was its childlike wonder. “Little Cream Soda” could be a surreal children’s book where the narrator loses innocence with a mind consumed by chaos and riddles. “Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.”

“Rag And Bone”

Following Eddie Van Halen’s death in 2020, Jack performed his solo song “Lazaretto” on Saturday Night Live and played a Van Halen signature model guitar in tribute to the late virtuoso. Van Halen forever changed rock guitar and the instrument itself. And Jack innovated in reverse by returning to older methods of recording. To further connect the two, The White Stripes’ boogie on “Rag And Bone”, with its spoken verses, recalls Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher”.

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