A Small Victory

Hmm. I've never even heard of them. How popular can they be?

Me neither. Never heard of them.

I just think Meg White is hot.

(Of course, I think most chick drummers are hot.)

And then there's all that brother/sister/ex-spouse business to add a subtle hint of incest to the whole image.

(And yes, I'm shallow, thanks for asking...)

Guess it's part of the retro/garage band fad that is popular right now (too many groups to mention).
Part of the appeal of Red Blood Cells (to me) was an underlying nod to the blues... took me a while to pick up on it, but the more I listened the more I heard a faithful blues structure. YMMV, of course...

Well, they are a slight change from the current crop of Angst Rock (StaindNicklebackCreedGodsmackEtc.). I like the songs of theirs I have heard so far... except if I have to hear "7 Nation Army" one more time I am going to kill someone.

As to why they are popular? I haven't a clue.

They are popular because they are loud, sloppy, and fun. I love them because I'm an imperfectionist--and they are perfectly imperfect.

They are the anti-boy band, the anti-Spears.

Go Stripes!

The only time I enjoy their songs are when they're on rathergood.com. Rockin' out kitties make anything fun.

While your at it, can someone explain the popularity of Radiohead?

Plus they are anti-techno(remember Queen touting that "NO synthesizers were used on this album).They advertise that they use old school recording techniques on top of all of the other nods to underground/incest/retro thang.

Because, to mangle a quote from Tom Lehrer, people have confused authenticity with merit and illiteracy with charm.

Drugs...lots of drugs.

I can't explain Radiohead's recent success. I've not been a fan of Kid A or Amnesiac; ambient trip-hop should be left to the professionals.

The popularity of the White Stripes is nearly as befuddling as the popularity last year of the Strokes. I think it's mainly marketing.

Who?

it's plain rock and roll. they have emotion, power and jack can sing like paul mccartney.

What ferro said. Chick Drummer.

I'm ambivalent to them, musically. The one video of theirs I've seen was entertaining.

I tried to like Radiohead once. I mean, I really really tried. But, they always sound to me like they have a scratched record playing somewhere in the background and they're singing muffled through an old dirty tee-shirt.

I like Seven Nation Army, but only for the first few seconds or so, you know, before they start singing.

hmmm..., well, actually, i've never heard of them. but i bet you already knew that :) i went to the website, though... red...? white...? bullseyes...? they work at Target? zakk just walked by and said "hey, they're pretty cool. you should listen to them..." go figure :)

This is a joke, right?

I had there damn song (if they're the group I'm thinking of) stuck in my head for three days.

Crap!! Now it's back....thanks.

Don't fret Mad Mikey. I know just the thing to take that tune out of your ears. Simply go here and click the horse heads. So soothing. And, it will stick in your head for just shy of forever.

I don't care how much "cred" rock critics have endowed them with, The White Stripes sound like somebody swinging a dead cat across a chalk board.
D.

Ryan, I hate you.

I'm so old.

No, I can't explain it. Next question. :)

I explain it all perfectly in my recent blog entry about their show last night.

The White Stripes have one good song, "Fell In Love With A Girl", which sounds like nothing else they've ever done.

The only hot chick drummer is Torry Castellano of the Donnas.

You mean the Angry kitties at rathergood.com were lip syncing? First Milli Vanilli and now the kittens!

What's there to explain? They just sound fuckin' great to me!

Ummmm...we both like them.

Funny, I used to ask myself the same question about Faith No More.

I like the White Stripes, the Hives and the Datsuns because they (to me) signal a sea change of taste away from the utter shit that mainstream rock has become since the advent of Nirvana.

Besides "Fell in love with a girl", their
song "Dead leaves and the dirty ground"
really kicks ass. Good video too.

I think Chad is sort of in the right direction - we've entered another really "corporate" age of popular music, where everything has to be focus-grouped and digitally corrected, so having someone to listen to who sounds utterly sloppy and not-giving-a-damn is kind of stomping on your own foot to distract yourself from the pain of a paper cut.

I'm kind of conflicted about the White Stripes - I actually rather enjoyed, uh, whatsitcalled, the album that had "Fell In Love With a Girl", but I've read interviews with Jack White, and he comes off as quite the pretentious asshole - according to him, if you don't love blues, you don't truly love music and can't be a musician, and even if you do, you're disqualified anyway if you don't think that all blues produced after 1970 totally sucks ass...

The appeal is they are not lip syncing, pyro-explosions on stage with 300 dancers performers, who write their OWN original music that is not mainstream, yet remarkably good in content and actually worthy of the critic's praise. The White Stripes are Indie at its best -

All the explanations I'm seeing in these comments seem to indicate that people appreciate the loose, "real", down-to-earth, straight-up rock&roll aspect of the White Stripes. In other words, they sound like any number of fine local rock&roll bands that you guys could go see at coffee houses, bars, and festivals within a 50-mile radius of where any of you live. But the White Stripes allow you to get your corporate-sponsored critic-approved shrink-wrapped authentic rock&roll without having to find or support local music.

I've got nothing against the White Stripes' music, even if it isn't my style - but I think it's pathetic that their music comes as some kind of roots revelation to so many fans. News flash: that guy with longish hair and an earring who rings up your groceries at the supermarket has been making "authentic" heartfelt lo-fi rock&roll for years, every friday night at local bars after he gets off work. Quality home-grown music ain't hard to find. Hooray for the White Stripes, they are part of the 0.01% who happen to make it big. Now lets give some love to the 99.99% who make music every bit as fine, but due to the whims of fate and the music industry, will never manage to quit their day jobs.

Amen, Avdi! And a great way to help them get theirs is by going into that dark little corner of your record store marked "local music" and picking up one of their cds. Better yet, given that most of these disks are affordably priced, pick up a few! Some of the best tunes I've ever heard are off local compilation disks going for 3 or 4 bucks for 15 songs...

And as for "there's no good music after 19XX", I pity you. Try looking for it. You don't find gold without digging for it.

I like them because they noticeably whiten your teeth in just ... oh wait...

never mind.

luke-warm power-pop, but somewhat catchy..... they have a couple songs that you need to actually beat yourself over the head to get outta there.

I have a soft spot for luke-warm power-pop bands sometimes.... it's a character flaw.