Jack White’s recent media storm, promoting his Third Man Records business venture, the Edge and Jimmy Page co-starring documentary It Might Get Loud, and new group The Dead Weather, has officially become White’s first strike in a crusade against modern technology. What first came across as frustration with modernity—ranting about Pro Tools, cell phones, MySpace, and the Internet—has actually been incorporated into White’s current “punk aesthetic,” as he told the WSJ’s John Jurgensen. Don’t know about you, but nothing makes me think “punk” more than a featured article in the Wall Street Journal. I kid.
“You can’t help but have a punk aesthetic, to rebel against technology and the way music is presented to people these days,” White said. “Real rock and roll isn’t about MySpace pages and digital music. Those are accessories. That’s the scarf on the jacket of real rock and roll.”
Whether you agree or disagree with White, his observation that exciting art needs something to rebel against is an important one. To find limitations in an increasingly limitless environment may seem crazy to some, but it sure looks to me like Jack’s having a good time.
Either way, he still couldn’t keep Dean Fertita’s iPhone from going off while recording their Bob Dylan cover. Check out The Dead Weather’s very unpunk Facebook stream of Horehound to see if you can find it.