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No Name (album)

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No Name
Studio album by
Jack White
ReleasedJuly 19, 2024 (2024-07-19)
Recorded2023–2024
StudioThird Man (Nashville)
Genre
Length43:03
LabelThird Man
ProducerJack White
Jack White chronology
Entering Heaven Alive
(2022) 		No Name
(2024)

No Name is the sixth studio album by American rock musician Jack White, first released on July 19, 2024, through Third Man Records. The album was initially a surprise, one-day-only vinyl release that was included with all purchases at Third Man Records store locations in Detroit, London, and Nashville. The vinyl itself was released completely unmarked, aside from "NO NAME" stamped on its white label, in a generic white sleeve.

No Name earned a wide release on August 2, 2024. The album received positive reviews from critics, who highlighted the album's raw and heavy sound and likened it to the trademark sound of the White Stripes, White's previous band.

Recording

[edit]

White recorded No Name in 2023 and 2024 at Third Man Studio in Nashville.[1] White produced the album solo and mixed it alongside Bill Skibbe.[1] The album features contributions from White's wife Olivia Jean, who provided bass and drums on some tracks, as well as White's daughter Scarlett, who played bass on two tracks.[2]

Composition

[edit]

No Name has generally been described musically as garage rock,[3][4][5] blues rock,[6][5] and punk blues.[7][8] Many commentators noted the album's distinctly raw nature,[4][5][9][10] as well as a similarity to the sound championed by White when he initially became popular with the White Stripes.[7][11] Lee DeVito of the Detroit Metro Times described the album's sound as being "more stripped down and guitar-heavy" than White's previous two albums, Fear of the Dawn (2022) and Entering Heaven Alive (2022).[9] On his WDET-FM radio show, Ryan Patrick Hooper described the album as being "dirty, grimy, [and] gritty".[10]

Release

[edit]
The white label of the album's original vinyl release, showing its "NO NAME" stamp

On July 19, 2024, Third Man Records included a free 12-inch vinyl record with all purchases made at their store locations in Detroit, London, and Nashville, without offering customers any details about the record.[12] Employees at the locations were also not briefed about the record's contents, only being instructed by their management to include it with every purchase made free of charge.[13] The record was also mailed to certain members of the Third Man Vault vinyl subscription service.[13] The white-colored record consists of a generic white sleeve with a white label that only has "No Name" in all-capitals stamped onto it.[14] Side A of the record has "Heaven and Hell" etched into its dead wax area, while side B has "Black and Blue" etched into it.[13] The record was also given the catalog number TMR-1000.[9]

News about the record spread online through word of mouth after customers realized that Jack White was the artist of the record, and that it was an entirely new album of original recordings from him.[13] This method of releasing the album was compared to when White hid 7-inch vinyl singles inside of furniture when he previously worked as an upholsterer.[8] Detroit's public radio station WDET-FM also played a selection of songs from the album live on the air after radio show host Ryan Patrick Hooper obtained the album while shopping at Third Man earlier in the day.[15] Later that day, Third Man took to social media to encourage those who obtained the record to rip its audio digitally and share it online.[16] Vinyl copies of the album were put up for sale on eBay shortly after release, generally being priced between $500 and $1,000.[17]

Shortly after the album's release on July 27, White played a show at American Legion Post 82 in Nashville where new LP copies of No Name on blue vinyl with a cover art, track titles, and liner notes were made available for attendees to purchase.[18] White announced on July 31 that No Name would receive a digital release on August 2 as well as releases on blue vinyl, limited to independent record stores, and standard black vinyl; Third Man stores sold the album exclusively one day early, on August 1.[19]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.1/10[20]
Metacritic86/100[21]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[22]
Exclaim!7/10[7]
The Guardian[11]
The Line of Best Fit8/10[23]
Mojo[3]
musicOMH[24]
Paste9.0/10[25]
Pitchfork7.6/10[8]
Rolling Stone[26]
Uncut9/10[27]

According to review aggregator Metacritic, No Name received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 from 15 critic scores.[21] Variety's Jem Aswad lauded the album as "the freshest and most exciting rock and roll album to come down the pike in years", also applauding White's ability to return to his original White Stripes sound "without seeming retro or leaning too heavily on nostalgia".[28] Paste's Matt Mitchell considered No Name to be White's best solo album to date, as well his third-best album when including his band works,[25] while Uncut's Peter Watts said that it "has some of White's most memorable riffs since Blunderbuss and is his most red-blooded rock record since Elephant".[27] Ross Horton of musicOMH called No Name "wonderful, magical, truthful and the most consistently surprising rock album of the year by some margin", complimenting the album's consistency in particular.[24]

Mojo's John Mulvey wrote that "No Name is packed end to end with tracks that balance great riffs and catchy tunes" and that White continues to be "a master at expressing his range within tight, self-imposed restrictions".[3] The Guardian's Stevie Chick praised the album as one of White's best, calling it "dark, heavy, thrilling, beautiful." Chick wrote that the album finds White sounding "leaner and sharper than he has for some time" and commended it for recapturing his "gift for heavy rock studded with hooks and a pop-oriented lightness of step."[11] Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan lauded White's ability to merge the straightforward rock sound of his past with the experimental nature of his recent works, additionally complimenting the album's conciseness and certain moments that he felt were akin to the works of artists like Willie Dixon, Led Zeppelin, and the Stooges.[26] Writing for AllMusic, Mark Deming called No Name "the most straightforward rock & roll album he has delivered in some time", adding that it was "the sort of idiosyncratic but lean and mean rock album he's needed to make for a while".[22]

Evan Rytlewski of Pitchfork complimented the "all killer, no filler ethos" of No Name, considering it to be a step up from the experimental approaches White took on his previous solo albums as well as a comeback album for his discography. Additionally, he celebrated White's decision to revisit the earlier sound that launched his career, adding that "even the last couple of White Stripes albums weren't this stacked".[8] Alex Hudson of Exclaim! wrote that despite the album not being "quite as white-knuckled as the first time White made music like this, nor is it as hooky as those White Stripes songs that took them from underground weirdos to superstars", he nevertheless enjoyed White's return to the sound he originally broke out and became popular with.[7]

In regards to White's method of releasing No Name, Brian McCollum of the Detroit Free Press applauded White's choice to release the album secretly, without announcement, and only through vinyl, claiming that he "made a stand for rock mystique" as a result. He also felt that the album's physical-only release falling on the same day as the CrowdStrike outage added to the returned prestige of both vinyl records and physical media as a whole, adding that "the Internet was a sideshow to the real magic of White’s Friday gambit. The quiet album rollout wasn't just a clever, headline-grabbing gimmick. It was a throwback to the days when mystique meant something as a music lover."[29] Noah Barker of The Line of Best Fit similarly praised White's ability to maintain his mystique in the digital age, saying: "Modern music releasing has made easier the focus-grouping, corporatization of music, but also the hyper-individualization of art. You can cut your tree and let it fall extravagantly, and if it’s never heard by another soul, that’s your mystery to keep. White lets a new mystique seep through on every release, a different angle into a wondrously fretful mind".[23]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Jack White[1]

No Name track listing[1]
No.TitleLength
1."Old Scratch Blues"3:30
2."Bless Yourself"2:34
3."That's How I'm Feeling"3:11
4."It's Rough on Rats (If You're Asking)"4:09
5."Archbishop Harold Holmes"2:51
6."Bombing Out"2:32
7."What's the Rumpus?"3:23
8."Tonight (Was a Long Time Ago)"4:11
9."Underground"3:45
10."Number One With a Bullet"3:19
11."Morning at Midnight"3:05
12."Missionary"2:29
13."Terminal Archenemy Endling"4:04
Total length:43:03

Personnel

[edit]

Personnel adapted from album liner notes.[1]

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for No Name
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[30] 132
Scottish Albums (OCC)[31] 6
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] 85
UK Albums (OCC)[33] 33
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[34] 1
US Billboard 200[35] 130

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e No Name (liner notes). Jack White. Third Man Records. 2024.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ Hudson, Alex (July 30, 2024). "Jack White Details 'No Name' Album, Shares Cover Art and Credits". Exclaim!. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Mulvey, John (August 1, 2024). "Jack White No Name Review: Former White Stripes leader returns to his blues punk roots". Mojo. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  4. ^ a b DeVille, Chris (August 1, 2024). "Premature Evaluation: Jack White No Name". Stereogum. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Pilley, Max (July 20, 2024). "Jack White surprise releases new album in Third Man shops, encourages fans to share it". NME. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  6. ^ Collinge, Miranda (August 1, 2024). "'No Name' by Jack White Review: Gloriously Against the Grain". Esquire. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d Hudson, Alex (July 22, 2024). "'No Name' Is Jack White's Ferocious Return to Old-School Punk Blues". Exclaim!. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d Rytlewski, Evan (August 7, 2024). "Jack White: No Name Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c DeVito, Lee (July 19, 2024). "Jack White surprise drops new LP at Third Man Records". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Hudson, Alex (July 19, 2024). "Jack White Giving Away Unlabelled Copies of a New Solo Album". Exclaim!. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Chick, Stevie (July 22, 2024). "Jack White: No Name review – terrific surprise album is his most White Stripes-esque solo release". The Guardian. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  12. ^ Wescott, Andrew (July 20, 2024). "Jack White has surprise dropped a new album, 'No Name', via Third Man Records stores". Dork. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d DeVille, Chris (July 19, 2024). "Third Man Shops Are Slipping a Secret New Jack White Album Into Customers' Bags". Stereogum. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  14. ^ Rolli, Bryan (July 19, 2024). "Did Jack White Secretly Release a New Album?". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  15. ^ Hooper, Ryan Patrick (July 19, 2024). "In The Groove: Jack White secretly dropped a new album, so WDET gave the world premiere". WDET-FM. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  16. ^ Young, Alex (July 19, 2024). "Jack White Encourages Fans to Rip His New Album". Consequence. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  17. ^ Graham, Adam (July 22, 2024). "Jack White's secret new album selling for up to $1,000 on eBay". The Detroit News. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  18. ^ Jones, Abby (July 28, 2024). "Jack White's No Name Album Details Revealed at American Legion Post 82 Benefit In Nashville". Stereogum. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  19. ^ Aswad, Jem (July 31, 2024). "Jack White to Officially Release Surprise 'No Name' Album This Week". Variety. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  20. ^ "No Name by Jack White". AnyDecentMusic. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  21. ^ a b "No Name by Jack White Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  22. ^ a b Deming, Mark. "No Name - Jack White". AllMusic. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  23. ^ a b Barker, Noah (August 2, 2024). "Jack White's mystique prevails on No Name". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  24. ^ a b Horton, Ross (August 2, 2024). "Jack White – No Name". musicOMH. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  25. ^ a b Mitchell, Matt (August 6, 2024). "Jack White Rewires His Circuitry on No Name". Paste. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  26. ^ a b Dolan, Jon (July 22, 2024). "Jack White's Free Surprise Untitled New Album Really Kicks Ass". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  27. ^ a b Watts, Peter (July 23, 2024). "Jack White – No Name". Uncut. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  28. ^ Aswad, Jem (July 21, 2024). "Jack White's 'No Name' Is Full of the Fiery Rock 'n' Roll His Fans Have Been Lusting for: Album Review". Variety. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  29. ^ McCollum, Brian (July 20, 2024). "Jack White didn't just release a surprise album — he made a stand for rock mystique". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  30. ^ "Ultratop.be – Jack White – No Name" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  31. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  32. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Jack White – No Name". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  33. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  34. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  35. ^ "Debuts on this week's #Billboard200..." Billboard on X. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
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