After making three certifiable
classic albums, the White Stripes were bound to want
to do something different with their fifth album. So
it proves to be: Get Behind Me Satan could be
considered their ‘Sonic Youth album’, with plenty of
experimentation, little ‘songs’, and the occasional
wild diversion into noise collage.
First single and album opener “Blue Orchid” is
a nice slice of glam rock, with Jack White falsetto-ing
his way throughout. It’s a touch too much, but at
least it’s a catchy song, something that’s not true
of the likes of “The Nurse”. The opening line of
the former is a classic: “The nurse should not be
the one who puts salt in your wounds/But it’s always
with trust that the poison is fed with a spoon”.
But the excessive use of xylophone is too much, making
the White Stripes – a band who’ve always known how
to command attention through great songs – sound
like they’re lacking in ideas. By comparison, “My
Doorbell” bounces along with great melodies but the
trite line of “I been thinking about my doorbell/When
you gonna ring it?” is repeated ad nauseum. Perhaps
they really are out of ideas?
Or could it be that entering a studio with zero
ideas and banging out Get Behind Me Satan was
a huge mistake? This is an album that sounds half-baked
most of the time – only the Appalachian folk of “Little
Ghost” and the rollicking “The Denial Twist”, where
Jack’s tremolo guitar most certainly plays the bass
line, recall the brilliant collision of insightful
lyrics and ripper tunes that have made them their
name. “White Moon” is a nicely moody piece that goes
nowhere in particular, while “Instinct Blues” sounds
like it was played with anything but – here, the
White Stripes make their blues sound forced and deliberate
rather than effortless.
Along with “Red Rain” and “Blue Orchid”, it’s one
of the few songs where the electric guitar is a focus.
That’s not been a problem in the past – think of
the White Stripes, and half the time the best songs
on their albums are those based around Jack’s rudimentary
piano playing or acoustic finger-pickin’ and brilliant
lyrics anyway. Meg White takes the mic on the short-lived “Passive
Manipulation” where, again, the idea sounds like
a half-baked one that more time would have fleshed
out. “Take, Take, Take” gets it right, as does the
excellent acoustic “As Ugly As I Seem”, both of which
find Jack ruminating on fame, fortune, and the nature
of life as a celebrity. Seems he don’t like it much.
Perhaps that’s why Get Behind Me Satan is
such a deliberately difficult album to approach;
this is a record that takes its own sweet time and
wants the listener to ruminate on it rather than
being immediately approachable. Whilst it does contain
a few classic songs – “Little Ghost”, “The Denial
Twist”, “Take, Take, Take” and “Ugly As I Seem” are
just great – but also a few time many loose threads.
Of all things, album closer “I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t
That Lonely Yet)” ends up sounding like something
Elton John or Billy Joel could come up with. It’s
a real surprise that the White Stripes didn’t realise
that whilst the ideas on Get Behind Me Satan are
interesting, they needed far more than two weeks
to flesh them out properly. With more time spend
ruminating, this could have been another to join
the likes of De Stijl, White Blood Cells and Elephant as
the finer touchstones in their oeuvre. Instead, it’s
a solid, but frustratingly inconsistent, effort.
