When Jack White started his solo career in 2012, he broke out of his self-designed primitive musical jail with the excellent Blunderbuss. Since then, he has blown open his sonic horizons, incorporating everything from funky electro keys to hip-hop duets with Q-Tip to covering 19th century composer Antonín Dvořák. Nothing was off the table for White, but the returns have certainly been diminishing. Now arrives a previously unannounced, unexpected, unnamed offering that is going by the title No Name, and it is White’s clearest return to his rock roots in decades.
This is not the twisted blues of the White Stripes; it is closer to the pounding thunder of The Raconteurs, with more stripped-down production values. White recorded, produced and engineered the album in DIY fashion, plugging back in his six strings and letting loose with family (daughter Scarlett – bass, wife Olivia Jean – bass//drums) and friends (Dominic Davis – bass, Daru Jones – drums) providing support. White hadn’t totally given up guitar over his last few releases, but his knack for crafting massive, arena-ready riffs was certainly relegated to a background role. On No Name, he rediscovers his love for a crunching electric guitar, drums, bass (and the occasional keys) attack.
“Old Scratch Blues” kicks things off, announcing White’s intentions with a swaggering rocker that deploys buzzing feedback and dynamite drum rolls before an organ-overloaded finale. The A side ends, and the B side of the vinyl continues in the same dazzling fashion with the grooving rock of “What’s the Rumpus?” and the galloping “Tonight (Was a Long Time Ago),” both blazing with guitar work, direct banging, and overflowing confidence.
The raw ripper “Bless Yourself” and the pummeling punk explosion of “Bombing Out” expertly evoke White’s love of The Stooges’ dirty Detroit rock vibe that courses throughout No Name. “Number One With A Bullet” sounds best when blasted out of a muscle car in the dead of the night as the revved-up rocker expertly uses smokey allure and a squirrelly electro solo. Both the hip-swaying “That’s How I’m Feeling” and the catchy as-all-hell “Underground” start with delightfully poppy guitar lines that get scuffed up with layers of grime, coating them in a leather-clad rock sound.
Lyrical themes of freedom, spirituality, returning home (both emotionally and physically), all pop up multiple times throughout. White gets his manic, end-days preaching on with “Archbishop Harold Holmes” while “It’s Rough on Rats (If You’re Asking)” has a unique take on the current state of the world around massive Led Zeppelin-inspired crescendos.
The album was originally given away to customers as a one-day-only vinyl release included with all purchases at Third Man Records retail locations in Detroit, London, and Nashville. The unique marketing is the only truly forward-looking action here, as Jack White’s surprise album retreats from grandiose musical ideas (that could be hit or miss), back into the safety of his bluesy rawk. However, that doesn’t diminish the ripping results, as No Name is a blast of direct six-string aggression that is ultra rare in 2024, which puts it in its own timeless class.
