Jack White – ‘No Name’ review: surprise album is maestro’s punkiest outing since White Stripes

5 August, 2024

Jack White, 2024. Credit/: James Swanson

In this era of digital hiss and an avalanche of music coldly delivered via algorithms, it’s a delight when a record comes from a place of purity. One man who always keeps it old school is Mr Jack White III. When he opened his Third Man Records store in London in 2021, he did so by performing on a nearby rooftop to the masses gathered in the street. Here’s an artist who believes in keeping it direct, who misses the days of word-of-mouth, and for whom life is lived better in the flesh.

What better way to launch a record, then, than by handing out unmarked copies on white label to unknowing Third Man customers in London, Nashville and Detroit – allowing them to make the discovery for themselves before asking them to rip ‘No Name’ and share it online? For something punk and low-key, it spread like wildfire.

We rinsed the ripped audio and have been living with the recently officially released higher-fidelity version long enough to confirm: this album pumps. The preceding 2022 companion records of the wild bluesy noodlings of ‘Fear Of The Dawn’ and the tender, folkier leanings of ‘Entering Heaven Alive’ saw White load up the plate with carbs for his fans. This time, on solo album number six, the meal is lean and hella spicy.

Opener ‘Old Scratch Blues’ sees White back and buccaneering in his finest garage rock fettle, howling into the brash ‘Bless Yourself’ as he spits back at the instant modern world: “People say ‘I need God on command, God on demand’ / If God’s too busy then I’ll bless myself”. He’s fired up, alright. Album highlight ‘Archbishop Harold Holmes’ has echoes of White Stripes’ ‘Icky Thump’, but with the frontman possessed by a manic preacher spouting wisdom and spreading salvation: “Hate is trying to take someone else’s love for yourself – but I’m here to tell you that love is / Trying to help someone else”.

The scuzzy punk of ‘Bombing Out’ is over almost as soon as it begins, while ‘That’s How I’m Feeling’ simmers with that Pixies quiet-LOUD-quiet-LOUD dynamism, albeit loaded with bluesy swagger. ‘Rough On Rats’ turns the weird up to 11, and ‘Terminal Archenemy Endling’ has both the grace and the weight to capture the darkness, energy and generosity of spirit on ‘No Name’. It feels like he’s mainlining Iggy Pop and Led Zep, tipping his cap to the past while still sounding like he’s bristling with ideas and itching to get out of his skin.

Fans don’t need to endure a 10-month rollout of endless singles, oversaturated media appearances and TikTok douchery until they receive an album they’re already tired of. This is an ode to the mystique of rock’n’roll and to the joy of music at its most physical and playful. Teasing doesn’t always lead to satisfaction. Just cut to the chase – and this one’s a bone-rattling ride. White’s revelling in the real world and has made it a much more thrilling place.