Before Jack White went solo and played with The Dead Weather and The Raconteurs, there was The White Stripes. And, before The White Stripes, there was a Detroit rocker in the '90s who played with various bands and friends. Now, for the first time, fans of White's and of Third Man Records can hear music from this time with a newly resurfaced rare track, "Itchy."
"Itchy," which premiered on Rolling Stone, is a live performance from White's early band Two Star Tabernacle's Jan. 16, 1998, show at Detroit venue Gold Dollar.
Featuring White on vocals and guitar, the crunchy 2-minutes, 30-second song stars ferocious playing from White, who is a flurry of quick strums, a blues base and energy. His voice, of course, still has the same sense of urgency and strain that it does now. But, on this youthful romp of a song, things feel even more amplified.
"Itchy" will be officially released in the next installment of the Third Man Records Vault Series, and it's not the only early White project set to be released. Alongside early Two Star Tabernacle versions of White Stripes songs "Hotel Yorba" and "Now Mary," the set will also include a November 1998 performance from Go (another of White's early bands) and a September 1999 concert by Jack White and the Bricks. The early White three-LP box set will be pressed on gold vinyl.
A Dead Weather "Let Me Through" singer and a "Third Man Challenge Coin" are also included in Vault Package #27. To receive all these things, fans must sign up for the $60 subscription by Jan. 31.
