It's good to see that the White Stripes are linked (in the press and on amazon.com, anyway) to the Strokes. However, the White Stripes cash the check that the Strokes have written. Rock and Roll is a lot of things to a lot of people: the Strokes represent the image and the attitude; the Stripes represent a more powerful, yet innocent facet. Detractors are quick to point out the lack of technical ability in the drum department - but it works quite well with the style. Can you imagine a Neil Peart playing over "Fell in Love with a Girl"? It embodies the old punk ethos that sincerity is more important than ability (which works much better for rock music than, say, flying an airplane!). The most striking track on this disc was "We're Going to be Friends". I kept waiting for the schoolboy story to go horribly awry or lapse into some Korn-esque molestation tale, but instead it remained uncorrupted and innocent throughout. The world-weariest track is probably "The Union Forever" - but instead of being whiny and/or jaded-sounding, it takes more of a "rage, rage against the dying of a light" approach. When Jack White sings about "true love" not existing, he sounds honestly like someone who - at some point - believed that it did.
There's no self-defeating irony to be found anywhere on this album, which is a refreshing change. It's a narrow fence to tread upon - taking yourself seriously without taking yourself TOO seriously. The Stripes do this wonderfully. The slide guitar is noticeably absent, and this is more poppy than their subsequent releases, but the spirit remains intact. Indie hipster types are bored of faux-Pavement cleverness and are looking for something a bit more substantial. The Strokes are for the parents and the White Stripes are for the kids. And who was rock and roll invented for, anyway?