The one band Jack White wanted to join
Jack White’s musical journey has been marked by versatility and exploration. Prior to the breakout success of The White Stripes, he was deeply ingrained in the Detroit music scene, honing his skills as a drummer in various bands. Even after attaining fame alongside his wife, White remained keenly observant of the other acts within his musical sphere.
While The White Stripes were obviously brilliant, they were in no way the first to do what they did. The garage rock duo sat a long lineage of rock bands but especially in the line of alternative outfits keen on merging the genre with seductive blues and the wild rage of punk. At the start of that line, as one of the key originators, sits one underrated band from Los Angeles.
As a follower and fan, Jack White knew he always had to bow down to The Gun Club, led by Kid Congo Powers and Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Forming in 1979, the band were coming up at the same time as other riotous acts like Nick Cave’s early group, The Birthday Party. Until that period, rock had followed a clear path from the hippie sounds of the 1960s, gradually getting a little heavier as the era’s optimism burst by the end of the decade. But as the 1980s were knocking at the door, the Cold War was in full swing, and the drugs that used to be so hip had started having a terrifying grip, fans were desperate for something even darker.
When The Gun Club formed, their mission was simple: “destroying rockabilly” and getting free drinks from journalists as they began messing with the press in interviews. In both those motivations, it’s easy to see why Jack White found them so inspiring. Much like The Gun Club, the White Stripes borrowed from the blues but left anything twee behind in favour of the rougher and sexier side. The duo also, like their predecessors, loved to cause some journalistic chaos.
For White, though, it always came down to the songs. “The songwriting of Kid Congo Powers and Jeffrey Lee Pierce has the freshest white take on the blues of its time,” he told Mojo. “‘Sex Beat’, ‘She’s Like Heroin to Me’, and ‘For The Love of Ivy’…why are these songs not taught in schools?” he continued.
For some reason, after their heyday in the 1980s, the group seemed to have been overlooked by history books. Perhaps it was due to their short lifespan or simply because other, more prominent punk acts cast a larger shadow. However, Jack White, in particular, views this oversight as a travesty. Upon hitting play for the first time, their influence on The White Stripes becomes unmistakable. The drums take centre stage in their songs, much like in The White Stripes’ music, and the group fearlessly explores various sounds within the broader rock genre. Like the duo, they refused to be confined by labels. It appears that for both bands, their spirit dictated their direction, and their sound followed suit.
Making it his mission to draw attention to the band that not only inspired them but sat as a pioneer at the very start of their particular subsect of music, Jack White demands his fans pay attention to The Gun Club and pay them their dues. While he never got to audition or play with the band, he did the next best thing by playing their tracks at The White Stripes live shows to allow him to briefly live the dream.
