Elephant - The White Stripes

For the first time, there are three of us. Our high school friend (and possibly our most loyal listener) Rob joins the show and brings the pick: Elephant by The White Stripes. It’s the album he heard at 10 years old in his dad’s car, and it shaped his taste in music. For Rocco and Kevin, it’s a first front-to-back listen of a band they thought they already knew.

We talk about the mythology of Jack and Meg White (married? siblings? both?), how Seven Nation Army went from a song about escaping the music industry to an anthem sung in stadiums everywhere, and why the band’s fusion of blues and garage rock has been so hard to copy. Then we go track by track. Ball and Biscuit gets a unanimous legendary. In the Cold, Cold Night splits the room. There’s No Home for You Here turns out to be a surprise favorite. And the closing duet gets an earnest defense, even after Rocco calls it the album’s only real miss.

00:00:00 Welcome back + special guest Rob

00:02:22 Rob introduces Elephant

00:08:54 White Stripes history and mythology

00:14:23 Meg's drumming and the band's fame

00:17:33 Blues meets garage rock

00:23:24 First impressions

00:30:47 Why Rob picked it + is this their best album?

00:37:22 Seven Nation Army

00:43:49 Black Math

00:47:18 There's No Home for You Here

00:51:22 I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself

00:56:45 In the Cold, Cold Night

00:59:42 I Want to Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart

01:05:30 You've Got Her in Your Pocket

01:09:55 Ball and Biscuit

01:15:29 The Hardest Button to Button

01:19:03 Little Acorns

01:24:51 Hypnotize

01:27:20 The Air Near My Fingers

01:31:50 Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine

01:34:41 Well It's True That We Love One Another

01:40:11 Album covers, Jack White's new album, and wrap-up