5 out of 5

Label: XL Recordings

Produced by: Jack White

White Stripes?  Meh.  Jack White?  Meh meh.  The label provided promos of Whirlwind Heat for the Tower Records in which I worked, assured that the branding power of the White name – produced by the man, the first release on his Third Man Records imprint – would get the listeners a’leapin’, and I ho-hum put the disc on, expecting more retro rocking whatever.  But instead, the bastard son of Brainiac and Arab On Radar thumped out of our speakers, coked out of its mind and spouting non-sequitors above a jittery fuzz of bass and drums and occasional bleeps and bloops.  It was catchy as Hell but also completely post-punky mad; I was impressed that White Stripes peoples would be listening to something like this, and resigned myself to peripherally joining the Jack White fanclub through my newfound love for Whirlwind Heat.  …The peoples never came, of course, and Third Man Records would resort to putting out more directly White Stripes-related projects thereafter, while the world politely ignored Heat.

Their loss.

The musical parents mentioned are definite touchpoints (certain tracks could slip into either band’s oeuvre easily enough), but Heat’s performance is confident enough to be fully their own thing.  The stripped down vocals / bass / drum combo is shuffled inventively over the 35 minutes of 13 tracks in a way that never tires or becomes repetitive, even with the album on repeat, and vocalist David Swanson’s ability to jump between  throaty howls and yelps helps keeps the slightly silly lyrics seem oddly fascinating.  And it should be said: White allows ‘Rabbits’ to sound fantastic.  Whether or not I like the Stripes, I’ll cop to White’s appreciation of a meaty beat, and Heat, already imbued with a slightly dancey sensibility, get that mighty groove played up via the production.

The release’s novelty as not being what one would expect from a major label (V2) via a major band should get its foot in your “listen to me” door; any love for bands of the weirdo quirk variety, whether leaning toward poppier things like Enon or harsher fare like AoR, should then keep Do Rabbits Wonder? in your rotation for a good, long time.