Blunderbuss (Third Man/XL/Columbia)
Release Date: April 24

Despite what he recently said, Jack White doesn't seem to miss the White Stripes even the slightest bit. After closing that chapter of his career in early 2011, he has, among many other things, collaborated with Danger Mouse and others on an album dedicated to the sounds of old Italian movie music (Rome), released a song for a Hank Williams tribute (The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams), slayed on Saturday Night Live as musical guest with host Lindsay Lohan, and continued work with his own ambitiously eccentric label Third Man Records. Now, it's time for Blunderbuss, an album focused more or less on straightforward rockin' (though "straightforward" is always a relative term in White's world). The album's singles so far ("Love Interruption" and "Sixteen Saltines") churn with the penetrating tunefulness that White is known for; and in the case of the latter, it's got a live-wire guitar charge that should stir up plenty of dust at summer festivals.

Fast Fact: Displaying a remarkable commitment to creative novelty, White's label Third Man has released glow-in-the-dark vinyl and a flexi-disc distributed by way of helium balloons launched from its Nashville headquarters.

SEE ALSO

EDITORS PICKS

FEATURED

SPIN LISTS

SEE ALSO

SEE ALSO