Description
//THIRD MAN RECORDS //
£41.99 – Black LP
”Handed out to customers at his record shops in an unmarked sleeve, White’s latest has been bootlegged online. Every one of his fans needs to track down this uncut gem.”
Why White chose to let his sixth solo album slip out in such a manner is anyone’s guess, but the man who’s done more than any other modern artist to revive record-collecting has form for such playfulness – he even went as far as to hide the 100 copies of the second single by side-project the Upholsterers within furniture reupholstered by bandmate Brian Muldoon, with whom White served an upholstery apprenticeship in his youth (only two copies have as yet been discovered). No Name will please both extremes of Jack White fandom: the diehard completists get another super-rare “holy grail” for their Discogs wantlists, while the fans who simply dig the music get 13 new songs they don’t even need to subscribe to streaming services to hear.
Whether via vinyl or dodgy MP3, every Jack White fan should search No Name out. It’s more off-the-cuff than much of White’s solo work – less of a curate’s egg than 2018’s occasionally inspired, occasionally bewildering Boarding House Reach, less slick and produced than 2022’s gonzo rock record Fear of the Dawn, more alive than its muted, folky twin Entering Heaven Alive.
White returns to the essence of his art, following the more grandiose experiments of recent years. And while those more baroque excursions yielded much of value, it’s in the rock’n’roll fundaments explored here that his true genius resides.
Tracklisting
Old Scratch Blues
Tonight (Was a Long Time Ago)
Bless Yourself
Underground
That’s How I’m Feeling
Number One With a Bullet
It’s Rough on Rats (If You’re Asking)
Morning at Midnight
Archbishop Harold Holmes
Missionary
Bombing Out
Terminal Archenemy Endling
What’s the Rumpus?
