The White Stripes - The Hardest Button To Button (2003)
***1/2 (of four)
I was on the White Stripes bandwagon a few years ago along with all the other self-aware pseudo-hipsters, but I was pretty much done thinking they were anything special shortly after the release of Elephant. A solid single, though, complete with a killer AC/DC rhythm-guitar riff intro and singalong chorus, is "Hardest Button to Button."
The Michel Gondry video is supremely watchable as well, thanks to live-action editing that's so swift it's almost stop-motion. Jack and Meg White play their instruments all over the city - dozens of duplicate drum kits appear, one in front of the other, to the beat of the song while Meg hops from kit to kit. At one point, there are at least forty of the things, rotating in a dizzying eight-point star formation.
She descends the concrete stairs to a subway station, while a guitar-playing Jack pops down with her, duplicate amps appearing in front of him at will. The whole video is one big trick played on the eyes, probably several thousand shots in all, spanning a sidewalk scene, a highway overpass tunnel and a subway car. "Hardest Button" was made with patience and care, and it pays off big time.
I was on the White Stripes bandwagon a few years ago along with all the other self-aware pseudo-hipsters, but I was pretty much done thinking they were anything special shortly after the release of Elephant. A solid single, though, complete with a killer AC/DC rhythm-guitar riff intro and singalong chorus, is "Hardest Button to Button."
The Michel Gondry video is supremely watchable as well, thanks to live-action editing that's so swift it's almost stop-motion. Jack and Meg White play their instruments all over the city - dozens of duplicate drum kits appear, one in front of the other, to the beat of the song while Meg hops from kit to kit. At one point, there are at least forty of the things, rotating in a dizzying eight-point star formation.
She descends the concrete stairs to a subway station, while a guitar-playing Jack pops down with her, duplicate amps appearing in front of him at will. The whole video is one big trick played on the eyes, probably several thousand shots in all, spanning a sidewalk scene, a highway overpass tunnel and a subway car. "Hardest Button" was made with patience and care, and it pays off big time.
posted by daytime at 7:50 AM
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