Both sporting great mops of fiery red curls and plenty of attitude to match, brother and sister team White Mystery plays a brand of stripped-down garage rock that brings to mind their musical predecessors like the White Stripes (of course), and even the Ramones to a certain extent. What sets White Mystery apart, though, is the duo’s distinctively psychedelic sound propelled by sonic brute force – a ‘60s vibe for the 21st century.
On guitar and lead vocals, brassy Alex White stands up front belting her heart out while shredding her electric six-string. Behind her on drums, brother Francis pounds out the beats and sometimes provides lead and backing vocals. Together, they make a dirty, grungy sound with lots of catchy hooks to keep the tunes playing in your head long after the CD stops spinning.
Hailing from Chicago, these two siblings have been making music together since they were tots. While Alex White has been a fixture on the garage scene for quite some time in Miss Alex White and the Red Orchestra and as founder of Missile X Records, she’s destined to attract a whole new following considering her memorable performance on this CD. She sounds a bit like Exene Cervenka of that influential ‘80s L.A. punk band X, which featured another man/woman lead vocal duo – Cervenka and then-husband John Doe, a seminal rock icon in his own right. Alex White is much grittier than Cervenka, though, and much more full of kick-your-butt swagger.
White Mystery has a knack for getting in and getting out when it comes to playing their songs, yet leaving the listener blown away. The average length of the 14 tracks on this, their debut CD, is about two minutes tops, and some songs just stop when the time’s up. There’s nothing fancy, sugary or sweet about White Mystery – it’s obvious that they just wanna skip the b.s. and rock.
“You can’t tame me!” Alex shouts on the opening track, “White Widow,” to a grinding guitar distorted through a fuzzbox, punctuated by Francis’ slamming drums. Alex’s guitar on “Don’t Hold My Hand” offers a heavy dose of surf punk, with Francis taking some lead vocals. “Don’t hold my hand/ I’m not your man/ I’ll tell you somethin’/ you should understand/ that I’m a jerk/ and you’re a flirt/ I’ll make you cry/ now watch me work.” Lyrically, White Mystery offers pure punk poetry on this and all of their songs – bratty, in your face and always raw.
If your ears are ringing and your head is spinning by the time White Mystery is done with you, consider yourself initiated to a new addiction that will have you coming back for more. Such is the power of White Mystery.
White Mystery plays The Funhouse (in Seattle) on July 31 at 8 p.m., admission $8. The show will also be broadcast live on KEXP radio at 90.3 FM. For more White Mystery and to check out some tracks, visit http://www.whitemysteryband.com.
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