Review: The White Stripes, Bon Jovi

Review: The White Stripes, Bon Jovi

The White Stripes 'Icky Thump' and Bon Jovi 'Lost Highway': Aidin Vaziri | It's country week on the pop charts, wherein two formerly sensible rock bands (well, maybe one) decamp to Nashville and come back with albums presumably inspired by vast amounts of beer drinking and banjo playing. First up: the White Stripes (left) who, despite a cover that depicts them sitting in some sort of rodeo pen, have not gone that Nashville at all on "Icky Thump." That's because it's hard to remember the last time Kenny Rogers sounded quite as deranged as Jack White does on the title track, roaring over a full-blown Hendrix racket, "Well, Americans, what, nothin' better to do?/ Why don't you kick yourself out? You're an immigrant, too." That's not the sort of company line you get with Toby Keith, although White does seem to warm up to the theme as the album progresses, breaking through the torrent of raunchy guitars with some nice slide work on "Catch Hell Blues" and even a sweet back-porch melody on "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)." Then there's Bon Jovi, no doubt encouraged by the post-Hurricane Katrina success of "Who Says You Can't Go Home" and steadily declining interest from its old acid-washed contingent. Much like the White Stripes' attempt at embracing a culture that is totally foreign to people who grew up in an industrial city in the north, "Lost Highway" is mostly a half-hearted affair made worse by tune-free, cliche-heavy ballads such as "Seat Next to You" and the first single, "American Idol" buzz-killer "(You Want to) Make a Memory." So, really, it's all a bit of business as usual here in Music City, USA. Let us know when Björk arrives.