Review Summary: Jack White's most visceral and lo-fi side-project proves to be an enjoyable, if fleeting experience.
While you, and perhaps half the globe are familiar with the primal drumming and satanic blues riffs of Jack White’s landmark duo, the White Stripes, few have, or will ever know Jack White’s most visceral and short-lived music project: The Upholsterers. Casually formed around the turning point of Jack's career from underground Detroit wonder kid to alternative music icon, the Upholsterers saw Mr. White team up with drummer, former co-worker and close friend, Brian Muldoon, of The Muldoons, a group that frequently opened for the band during the Stripes De Stijl era.
Muldoon’s local reputation as a technical drummer becomes immediately apparent from the relentless beats laid down in the EP opener, ‘Apple of my Eye’ where typical early White Stripes riffs collide with some very atypical drumming. Heavy, dense, and murky, Muldoon’s drumming provides White’s sparse approach to Garage Rock with a meatier, more intrusive feel that the White Stripes only come close to touching upon in their debut effort (think Astro, Broken Bricks etc.)
The sophomore track and sole single, ‘Pain (Give me Sympathy)’ follows in a similar vein, with a sporadic, crunching riff forming an uncomfortable foundation for White’s screaming vocal performance. While the angst ridden lyrics, “Pain, just give me sympathy/ deep down in my heart there’s an explosion/ it’s like a tornado”, show that the display of inner emotions is not something new to Jack White, as said by many journalists today while reviewing his latest LP, Lazaretto amidst his current private turmoil. The closing track and Willie Dixon cover, ‘I Aint Superstitious’, could easily be an early White Stripes cut though its brief, but perfectly formed one-minute riff laden life span.
So if you ever dreamed of a meatier, darker White Stripes, or even one with a more traditional drumming style, Makers of High Grade Suits is an interesting, enjoyable, but all too brief reality that follows a homogenous, but successful recipe throughout its three track serving.
