Solids vs. Stripes

Our generations Led vs. Who debate could engorge two bands with similar passions but dissimilar musicianships: The White Stripes and The Black Keys

I love this notion because not only are they similar in name but they brought back the same theme of Blues revival for a generation but with a far different flare.

This point here is to demonstrate where rock music is today.  Where we see ourselves on the edge of the spectrum in the final bounce and transition from the early 2000s rock, but nothing else is as agreeable as The Black Keys and The White Stripes.  They're both duos, their both blues revivalists, but more importantly both bands have shared a lot of the same public realm of consciousness with the same manner.  Different start and stop points, and virtuosity is unquestionably in favor of their elders, but they perhaps are the most recent stands of real rock music we've in such audacious forms.

Commercial success I suppose could be taken into account for these duos, but it's probably the most minimalistic argument because in modern day music it appears to be the least important aspect of any musician's careers.

Now here's where I'm gonna put down my analogy:

The Black Keys are Led Zeppelin and The White Stripes are The Who.

In this argument, I'm not comparing them as to who's better.  Everyone knows that Led Zeppelin wins hands-down, but that parallel does not correlate here because neither The Black Keys or The White Stripes are better than the other.  Rather, this argument means to compare them by characteristics of style and musicianship to their predecessors.

You pretentious a-holes.

The Black Keys are similar to Led first and foremost in their consistency.  People make a lot of stink that The Black Keys have changed dramatically in the last decade, which is a notion I disagree with.  For one, between The Big Come Up to Magic Potion, the formula changed very little and few complained.  much like Zeppelin.  It's the same method that gave both bands their virtuoso skills and their fan bases alike.

What I mean to say is that The Black Keys have memorable songs.  In the way Led Zeppelin had numerous commercial hits that were also well written and performed, The Black Keys have had this same blessing.  Now, again, given their styles are so different, they still have a half dozen songs that it seems most people know, whereas The White Stripes is less so.  Short of Elephant, the White Stripes were touch and go.

Now the reason specifically that The White Stripes in my mind correlates them closer to The Who is in their experimentation.  The Black Keys and Zeppelin at their cores are undeniably more formulaic in their adhesion of their blues influences, respectively.

The White Stripes and The Who both have a deeper, perhaps nuttier interpretation of the Blues.  More animalistic even.



If you listen in between the songs on Live at Leeds, you hear The Who talking a lot about where their songs originated.  They also share a similarity in their chance to thrash.  Keith Moon was notorious for damaging property and making pure energy pump through an instrument (or himself).  Jack chose to take it out on his sound, which blew my mind as a teenager knowing that near shrieks and pitches could be pulled back that finitely.  I think that's where the whiplash of the head-bang comes through; at that moment where the guitar stops short and changes direction.

And truth be told, if I asked you on the spot how many Who songs you can name in a row, you know your answer would be less than had I asked the same about Zeppelin.

The Black Keys now are not the shimmering electric roots they started as, and to the dismay of the hipster world, much like of the brethren whom beat the Modest Mouse threshold, took the trajectory towards a major label and a little extra grip in the pocket. But with that it has opened their door to many other demographics in the music community.  Zeppelin, while perhaps the most virtuosic of any band in this discussion, did the same and became indifferent towards the mercantilism associated with the music industry.  Instead, they used it to their advantage, and I don't think anyone in the band is complaining about the royalties they've seen from the countless Hot Topics across this great nation.  But to be fair, it has allowed them access to future generations becoming aware of these grandfathers of modern rock music.  The Black Keys, far more than The White Stripes, have shrugged at this unnecessary necessity, and have proverbially gone with the flow, and in return it allowed them to finally nail down what they've been looking to do with their sound for the last five years.



Rest assured, I could care less about when an artist goes mainstream, it's just the ecology of the system.