For fourteen years, the White Stripes screwed and shredded the shortest connection between punk and blues, bypassing all frills and diversions. In the long run, however, guitarist Jack White was not enough for this action area, and he additionally founded bands like Dead Weather or Die Raconteurs. All these groups are temporary history. Lazaretto" is his second solo appearance. "Lazaretto" is an album built in the seventies. The record is full of pop effects, but also relies on the deeper effect, which only opens up after repeated listening. White has eavesdropped on many of the classics of the genre such as Led Zeppelin or Cream.
The times when White was about provocation seem to be over once and for all. His guitar rarely sounds as shrill as with the White Stripes, the arrangements tend to opulence rather than reduction. For this he relies increasingly on the psychic and emotional resonance of the historical set piece, no matter how obstructed it may be. A lot in his new songs belongs to the vocabulary of advanced blues rock, which he varies in all imaginable variations from prog and Britblues to Southern and Hardrock to Honkytonk and Country. Despite the stylistic diversity, the record surprisingly doesn't sound eclectic.
