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As many of you may have heard, The White Stripes have decided to break up. The news was announced via their website at noon today, February 2nd. As a big fan of the band, I am very disappointed albeit not very shocked by this news.
It has been nearly 3 years since the group released their last studio album with 2008's Icky Thump, and rumors have swirled around the band's hiatus since then. Many blamed it on Meg's health, others just assumed Jack was getting tied up in his various side projects. Whatever the reason, I had been waiting like many other fans for a new album, and perhaps a return to form for the band. For me, Icky Thump seemed like a much less focused album, and all of Jack's side project bands (aside from the Raconteurs first album Broken Boy Soldiers) seemed only to be a diversion, and they never captured the garage band spirit of the band's early days.
To make matter's worse, the band's website had this to say:
"Third Man Records [Jack White's label] will continue to put out unreleased live and studio recordings from The White Stripes in their Vault Subscription record club, as well as through regular
channels."
channels."
The band has been notorious in recent years for releasing exclusive products like vinyl releases, early single drops, and merchandise to those who pay to join the website's subscription club (chronicled via Pitchfork here), which seems contradictory to Jack and Meg's farewell statement, also via their website:
“The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful.”
While the band does add above that their unreleased tracks will also be made available through "regular channels" I still don't like the idea of proprietary fan club material. It makes the situation seem hokey and materialistic, but hey, I suppose it's the nature of the music business, which is a business after all.
My irks with Third Man's release methods notwithstanding, there is no denying that the band was a tour de force while they lasted, and they helped shape popular rock music at the dawn of the new century. I remember first hearing White Blood Cells and being blown away by how huge a record could sound while maintaining the group's minimalist aesthetic. It's that exact aesthetic that made many brush them off as a gimmick, and the band does have it's fair share of nonplussed listeners...but then again what band doesn't.
Another thing to keep in mind as well is the broad history of bands who break up, only to reunite once more. Think of Pavement, The Strokes, Death From Above 1979, hell even the perennially returning (and perennially bad) KISS. More than likely, this isn't a never-say-never situation, but that doesn't make the breakup any less painful to those who loved the group. Whatever becomes of Jack and Meg, there is one thing that is certain among their fans...their music will continue to live in our hearts, minds, and playlists forever.
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-CP
-CP
