10 Albums Turning 20 In 2019
9. The White Stripes (Self-Titled)
The White Stripes helped bring a back-to-basics approach into rock music throughout the 2000's. But with this first record, the band was just a humble two-piece act out of Detroit playing a mix of blues and garage rock.
The band's self-titled debut is by far their dirtiest recording, with many blasts of feedback and guitar sequences that are purposefully rudimentary. It's great fun to see Jack White as nothing more than a gifted blues rock aficionado on songs like "Jimmy the Exploder" and the Robert Johnson cover "Stop Breaking Down."
Even though Jack White tends to get the spotlight, Meg White's drumming gives these songs the right amount of dynamic thunder.
The album was garage rock before the genre had its surge in popularity in the 2000's. This record comes before the Strokes, The Hives, The Arctic Monkeys, and other great garage acts that start with "The."
At this starting block, The White Stripes used their debut to blaze the trails for the garage rock explosion of the next millennium. This record is that genre's baby steps. But those baby steps would lead to something even more gargantuan in the next decade.