Rocktober First Tracks Song #2: "Jimmy the Exploder" by The White Stripes

Song number two in our look at first tracks off of debut albums comes from one of my favorite bands, The White Stripes.

Like most (or so I assume), I didn't become familiar with The White Stripes until 2001 when I heard "Fell In Love With a Girl."  It was a refreshing garage punk song, and there was something interesting about Jack White's voice.  When Elephant came out two years later and I actually had some disposable income, I went back into their catalog and bought their first two albums.

The band's self-titled debut album came out in 1999 to positive reviews, albeit little fanfare.  Thankfully, legendary BBC DJ John Peel randomly spotted it at a record store and was intrigued by the cover -- with the band's now-iconic red-white-and-a-little-black color theme -- so he bought it and started playing it on the air, helping to break the band in the UK.  As we know now, the band consisted of only two people:  Jack White on guitar and vocals and Meg White on drums.  They were married at the time the first album came out, but divorced in 2000.  Amazingly (and thankfully), they decided to continue to make music together.

The first White Stripes album is a beautiful combination of DIY punk, garage rock, and blues.  At a time when rock was dominated by nu metal and post-grunge, this wasn't really like anything you'd hear on the radio.  Like grunge had reinvented rock earlier in the decade, distancing itself from over-the-top glam metal, The White Stripes were on the forefront of doing the same at the end of the decade and in the early 2000s, bringing the garage back to rock.  Of course, it didn't hurt that Jack White is a hell of a guitar player and songwriter with a wide range of influences.  And they showed that two people can make a hell of a racket, paving the way for the likes of The Black Keys, The Kills, The Raveonettes, Death From Above 1979, Best Coast, JEFF The Brotherhood, Japandroids, Royal Blood, Black Pistol Fire, and many more great rock duos over the following couple decades.

"Jimmy the Exploder" is the first track off of their debut album, and it truly is a perfect introduction to The White Stripes.  Meg starts the song of with a pounding beat before Jack comes in with a little riff, just before they break loose into the catchy main riff and bust into a frantic garage punk song.  You can see why John Peel was into it.