“No Name” is the latest album from former White Stripes blues-rock singer and guitarist Jack White released during July and August of 2024.
Overall it’s a straightforward rock & roll album consisting of 13 guitar-based songs. Stylistically, these songs meld the punk-influenced minimalism of the White Stripes with blues-rock obsessions like Led Zeppelin, making them a return to more familiar territory for White.
This is a contrast with White’s two albums released in 2022, “Fear of the Dawn” and “Entering Heaven Alive,” which found him introspectively exploring the outer margins of his music. Explorations that were fueled by White’s struggle with the isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to AllMusic.
The lyrics on “No Name” are full of blues-style boasts and brags, and matched by rhyming guitar licks. Lead guitar lines tend to swing from elemental chunkiness to more technical flash.
And a clean, unobtrusive production style lets other musicians be heard clearly without taking focus off White himself. Making for an idiosyncratic but on the whole economic and powerful set of rock tunes.
Another essential part of the story of the album is the publicity stunt surrounding its release. On July 19, 2024, anyone who made a purchase at one of White’s Third Man stores in Detroit, Nashville or London found a mysterious LP in a plain white sleeve in their bags. The white labels on the records were simply stamped “No Name.”
Before long, music media outlets were reporting widely on stories about White releasing a new album in a manner that was both secretive and bound to call attention to itself. Needle-drop bootlegs of the album soon circulated online, and within a week “No Name” had an official wide release.
All in all, “No Name” would seem to offer classic rock, blues, indie, alternative and garage rock fans a raw and energetic listening experience with a stripped-down production style.
White’s passionate vocals could resonate with fans who appreciate authenticity and raw energy in their music. And his eclectic mix of blues, rock and experimental sounds could appeal to listeners who admire a willingness to push boundaries.
The prominence White gave to the vinyl LP version of the album during the release process might further appeal to fans who appreciate the physical and tactile experience of traditional records. And who are drawn by White’s commitment to analog formats.
One of the great rock conceptualists of the 21st century, White came to fame as the leader of the White Stripes, the Detroit-based garage-punk duo who became of the biggest rock acts of the 2000s.
While the White Stripes established White as a roots rocker, he also continued to maintain an interest in modernist art. These dueling, sometimes complementary instincts fueled myriad artistic pursuits for White both inside and outside the confines of the White Stripes.
Almost immediately after their album “White Blood Cells” became a blockbuster for the White Stripes in 2001, White began stepping out of the band’s confines. He produced the 2004 album “Van Lear Rose” for country singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn, and formed the bands the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather.
After the breakup of the White Stripes in 2011, White divided his time between his Third Man Records empire and his two remaining bands. As well as a solo career that became increasingly idiosyncratic with each new album.
Charlie Curnow 