Conquest is a weird one. A flamenco style song played with fuzzily distorted guitars, trumpets and a gutsy matador mentality.

But did you know that the song was released in 1952 by an artist called Patti Page. That’s right, Jack and Meg are tipping their weird matador hats to a bygone era in this song.

Hell, it works for them too. It’s an overblown effort, sadly probably not destined to break any singles sales records. How much that matters to The White Stripes is another matter, but you can easily appreciate the humor and (mock?) bravado in their delivery.

This carries on into the video for Conquest, where Jack White’s macho matador suddenly has an attack of conscience as he’s about to put a bull to death. Kudos to the bull for stealing the show with some hammy acting.

Looking back, is Conquest the type of song you’ll put on your stereo? Not on its own. While I can appreciate what they’ve done with the track, it’s probably suited best as an album track on Icky Thump.

If you want to hear a mashup of The White Stripes versus Patti Page’s original version of Conquest, click here.

Never been a big fan of The White Stripes, but it’s good to see them back on the scene with new single, Icky Thump. Possibly the oddest-named single release this year?

I’ve gotta admit to not liking Icky Thump when I first heard it. That was maybe a fortnight ago, and plenty of radio play in between has helped me to change my mind. The more I listen to it, the more I hear a classic Led Zeppelin sound. That stop-start sound, big crashing drums and cymbals? Those raw, bluesy riffs? It just felt like a really rough version of Black Dog in places.

Vocally, Jack White sounds fully deranged, like Zed from Police Academy screeching out seemingly random lyrics. And like Zed, you can pick out the odd moment of coherence in the lyrics like…

Y’all Americans got nothing better to do
Why don’t you kick yourself out – you’re an immigrant too

…which is both sharp and funny at the same time.

The keyboard noodling (you can talk it up, but it’s still noodling) has the potential to be annoying, but somehow manages to add to the piece. I think because it generally heralds another one of those big guitar and drums moments that I love. I’m just wondering if the keyboard line is reversed like what Hendrix used to do? Sounds like it.

The sum of all the parts is just a fantastic bluesy jam with a slight nod to psychedelia thrown into the pot. Not one of those songs to be taken too seriously, just let the music do the talking….

Icky Thump is from the new White Stripes album of the same name…. and here’s the video: