Album Review: Jack White - Lazaretto

Jack White is Jack White is Jack White. He has his distinct sound that he will play, album after album after album, and no one will complain because he is Jack fucking White and he can do whatever he pleases. Also that distinct sound? Love it. Lazaretto is an easy addition to his canon; it sounds like a Jack White album because it is a Jack White album, nothing more, nothing less.

On this Record Store Day release, you see him back to the Americana of 2012's Blunderbuss, including an organ jam-out and shrill guitar lines, starting out with opener Three Women. We're immediately set on a path towards blues-rock with the jumping piano-line and White's signature vox. Grooving bass on the title track helps it stand out as a step into newer territory. It's the album highlight, combining aspects of his signature style with synth effects and a wailing guitar solo.

Would You Fight For My Love? is the first to go full-kilter White Stripes in terms of vox and melody, with added haunting back-up vocals. Just One Drink has the female-male rockabilly vocal we're now familiar with from that era, while That Black Bat Licorice harks back lyrically, and with the sounds and harmonies it's alt-rock finessed and made pure. Lazaretto is an album that blurs – whether between blues piano lines and Americana guitar, or between songs of women lusted over and women conquered. There's a lot to like here.