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I remember reading, back in '01, some SPIN writer's verbal diarrhea saying the Srokes and Stripes were the new Beatles and Stones....
Baha!
As it turns out, the White Stripes are more like the Beatles than the Strokes (who strike out almost always, but have three or so great songs) ever were, even during the Is This It? explosion. How? Well, the Stripes, like the Beatles, had a definite and elemental look and feel. They started out as experts in simplicity, making just plain right-on pop songs, just like the Beatles. "Third Man" is like "Apple".... both bands expanded on their initial perfect-pop sound with the addition of psychedelics and bizarre experimentation. Granted, the Stripes are no Beatles... but they're closer to the Beatles than the Strokes, especially now that their career is over and we can look back at the non-stop stream of hits they released, and critically acclaimed, platinum selling albums, each of which built upon the last..... Except for Icky Thump, which was great record, but more like a return to their original sound, only thicker and with more color and radiance.
Also.... some asshole at pitchforkmedia.com said, in 02, that the BLACK KEYS were better at playing the blues, and shamed the Stripes. The Keys, he said, delivered TRUE "delta" blues, while the Stripes were just some "mid-western rich-kid interpretation" of it.
Bullshit.
The Stripes are not a blues band, they're a rock band, in the tradition of the Stooges, and they came from motherfucking Detroit, a city whose only real benefit to society has been garage rock (Stooges, MC5).
The Black Keys are JSBX and Stripes imitators, blatantly. I can't believe how loved they are by the populous. They write bullshit stoner rock that has nothing to do with the blues. Anyone with eyes and ears can see that they're just the Stripes without character, talent, muscle, or red and white.
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