Stripes on fire

CD of the week

THE WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump XL

When The Raconteurs, Jack White's side-project with buddy Brendan Benson, took off so spectacularly, many reckoned Meg would soon be left on the shelf and The White Stripes put on permanent hold. Icky Thump, a raucous attempt to prove the Stripes still have the fire, finds Jack and Meg cranking up their dirty ol' garage sound to near-explosive levels.

Once again, White makes his pitch to be the modern torch- bearer of the blues, digging deep into the roots of rock'n'roll and coming out squalling. The Led Zeppelin obsession is loud and clear on the title track, a politically charged take on Black Dog, while the mandolin stomp of Pricky Thorn, But Sweetly Worn, featuring bagpipes from Jim Drury, though set in the thistly fields of Scotland, is rooted firmly in Bron-Y-Aur.

Jack and Meg plainly see themselves as collectors of rock'n'roll junk, recycling it in to such bluesy, countrified tunes as Rag and Bone and 300mph Torrential Outpour Blues. Conquest is a typically untypical cover version of a Patti Page jungle lounge tune from the 1950s, and I'm Slowly Turning Into You was inspired by an idea Michel Gondry had for a band video.

You may have heard all the tunes before - probably on an old John Lee Hooker album - but White gives them the Stripey treatment, ripping them apart with his old DanElectro guitar and putting the pieces through his creative combine harvester till they come out sounding both mad and modern. Meg's drumming, loose and clattery, keeps up with White's impetuous mood. At times, though, you wish Brendan Benson would march in and put some order (and a hook or two) on the enterprise.

The White Stripes don't make great albums, but they are a force of nature, and if you can last the pace, you'll be rewarded with some invigorating, 21st-century rock'n'blues. www.whitestripes.com  KEVIN COURTNEY

Download tracks: Icky Thump, Conquest, Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn