Alt-rock duo The White Stripes rose to prominence on the national scene with the release of their third studio album White Blood Cells in 2001. Their style was unique as a two piece that packed a bluesy punch who stood out as part of a garage rock revival along with bands such as The Hives and The Vines. The album set the stage for The White Stripes run of wildly successful albums in the oughts including the Grammy winning follow up, Elephant.

A guitar clicks into an old amplifier and there is a scream of raw Jack White noise as, “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground“ defibrillates the album to life and gives indications for what’s to come. The sound shifts effortlessly back and forth from calm and comforting to distorted and angry as Jack describes what it’s like in the absence of his love. “Every breath that is in your lungs is a tiny little gift to me, a tiny little gift to me.” It’s a great way to kick off an album and it feels like you could have been in that, “Little Room” with them.

If you asked me for a raw sounding song, the first place my head might go on a good day is the lovable and brevity encapsulating, “Fell in Love With a Girl.” Coming in at just under 2 minutes, Jack White was surprised when it was selected to be a single for the album by the record company. It perfectly synthesizes the garage rock vibe of sounding a bit amateurish, but actually being pretty tightly put together. Besides, “Bobby said it’s fine he don’t consider it cheating now.”

The sweet and innocent acoustic finger picking and wonderful lyrics of, “We’re Going to Be Friends” splits the album up nicely with a story about two children walking to school together for the first time. It ends as beautifully as it begins with the thought of tomorrow, “When silly thoughts go through my head, ‘bout the bugs and alphabet, and when I wake tomorrow I’ll bet, that you and I will walk together again, I can tell that we are gonna be friends.”

The album would receive nearly universal critical acclaim and would go on to sell over a million copies. The part I love so much about The White Stripes is the stripped down nature of the two of them playing off of each other. Meg White’s powerful yet simple drums form the foundation for Jack to build a smoke-filled blues club on top of. Their marriage was long over by the time of this record, but the connection between them is lucidly clear, one bass kick and blues riff at a time.