Review Summary: Nothing you haven't heard before and none of it done better.
It had to have been about a year back when my friend came to me with something odd and unexpected. He was fond of picking up random discs and letting me borrow them shortly thereafter, and this time it just happened to be the White Stripes'
Walking With A Ghost EP. I suppose it was somewhat relevant as
Tegan and Sara, by whom the song was first put out, had been a topic of our conversation at that time. Besides that, the two of us considered ourselves fans of the White Stripes at the very least and we had come to agree that the original single wasn't too bad of a radio hit. All things considered it was easy to assume that this disc would more than likely be an upgrade to an already enjoyable song.
I think the reasons I was so willing to believe that this would be a good pick up were derived mostly from my White Stripes background. Up until this point I had each of the full length albums in my possession and, with the exception of
Get Behind Me Satan, found nothing that I could dislike greatly in any of them. On top of this, not only had I made a point to find previous single releases, unreleased demos, B-sides, and live performances but I had even found some of my favorite tracks within these rarities. At one point I could even claim that I was able to play any and all of the White Stripes' songs, which says more about my interest in the band than it does about my guitar ability at the time. In short, I could easily say that besides the one album that didn't click well with me there was little the band could do to really turn me off.
That is, of course, until I took the
Walking With A Ghost EP home with me to listen to. Right away I found myself trying to convince my ears that what I was hearing was a lot better than it actually sounded. Unlike its original version, the Stripes'
Walking With A Ghost doesn't sound clean, concise or impressive in any way. While I certainly understand that they have always favored a stripped down, minimalist approach, the cover truly sounds as though Jack White heard the song a few times, walked into the studio and told Meg to just pay attention and keep up with him. While his voice whines throughout the track in what has become a forced trademark falsetto, her rhythm suffers in a way that even a long-time fan such as myself cannot ignore. In fact, as strange as it may be to say, Jack's guitar tone doesn't even hold a candle to the crunching, undeniably catchy sound that first drew me to the
Tegan and Sara version.
As let down as I may have felt, admittedly because I had quickly come to the realization that I liked the original infinitely more, there are four other tracks that accompany the cover. Unfortunately all four of them are live and, while I do enjoy some live versions of Stripes' songs better than the studio versions, I would have much rather preferred to see at least one unreleased rarity tossed on as a novelty. Then I come to realize something even more infuriating... none of these following tracks are anything new. The second and fifth tracks are both from a live show that can already be found on the
My Doorbell single, and the tracks in between are radio performances also placed on
The Denial Twist single release. At this point I know that the only reason I'm not greatly upset is because my friend was the one who actually paid money for this.
As for the live versions themselves, three out of the four of them are devoid of the flare and raw energy that used to shine brightly in the White Stripes' live show. Instead, they come off as mostly unenthused or forced, lacking a great deal of something that ends up making them very forgettable.
Screwdriver could be tolerable if it weren't for Jack's ragged, sloppier than normal presentation and the needless interjection of
Passive Manipulation, in which the listener is reminded as to why Meg should
never sing live. The only redeeming quality found here is an acoustic version of
Same Boy You've Always Known, only because it is the only track on this disc that comes anywhere close to being as good as the original version.
That's really all that can be said about this release, other than the fact that it wasn't too long before I removed the songs from my iTunes folder, returned the disc to my friend and that I haven't seen it since. For something that sounds to be the product of little to no effort whatsoever, going out and picking this up will more than likely end up proving to be a waste of a few dollars that could go toward something else. Unless of course you really enjoy the White Stripes, or you really enjoy
Tegan and Sara, or you just really enjoy both. Otherwise, don't bother.
Recommended Tracks:
Same Boy You've Always Known (live)
