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White Stripes Or Shite Hype?

Stephen Dalton, The Times, August 2003

NEXT WEEK the White Stripes release their latest single, a highly distinctive reading of the Burt Bacharach standard 'I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself'. Shrill, scratchy and all but unlistenable, it must rank as a strong contender for the worst cover version in rock history, right up there with Paul Young's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' and David Gray's 'Say Hello, Wave Goodbye'. Mistaking amateurism for authenticity, and choking on its constipated reverence for the past, it also throws into sharp relief the severe limitations at the heart of these overpraised media darlings.

Total word count of piece: 1078


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