When Lazaretto roars to action with the sweltering, Hammond-driven rocker “Three Women”, Jack White is on familiar terrain, unleashing a supercharged, garagey blues riff that’s as archetypal as the theme. But when the “red, blonde and brunette” ladies in question appear in a “digital photograph”, the anachronism is a striking reminder of White’s gift for recasting classic musical elements in arrestingly modern contexts. There are plenty of such moments on Lazaretto, like when the title track’s heavy bass rumble is augmented with a squall of 8-bit Atari noise and a vaguely Appalachian fiddle solo. Throughout, White’s brand of heated, high-powered Read more on Last.fm.
My first thought after finishing this record was, “Jack really knows who he is now, and he’s finally comfortable branching out more.” I don’t always love the places he goes, but this record feels the least imitation/replica/novelty of anything he’s ever done or played on. Long and short: I don’t love it, but I admire it.