A pair of Aces in April

2012 is off to a really good start in the music world, and the year just got better with new releases from Jack White and Austin, Texas slammers The Golden Boys. These are the year’s best elpeez thus far, but I’m not really sure which one I like most, as they are quite different from each other.

Dirty Fingernails is The Golden Boys’ assembly of straight ahead rockers that’ll sound refreshing to young-ish fans of minimalist lo-fi garage, and will jog the memories of anyone old enough to remember The Standells. The band’s strength is an over-abundance of energy, a versatile use of electric keyboards, and relentless melody and guitar-hookery. “Curtains” is a fantastic track that uses feedback as a rhythmic device and changes course halfway through. Even the obvious throwaway “Daddy’s Horsewife” has a noisy charm that Andy Falkous would appreciate.

Expectations were high for Jack White’s solo debut Blunderbuss, and what he’s delivered here is a lovely set of songs with lyrical content that often stands in stark contrast with the musical composition. His heart has been broken, and spits sophisticated venom on par with “Blood and Chocolate”- era Elvis Costello on “Hypocritical Kiss.”

As the Dick Clark Poster notes in the strip, Nashville truly seems to have seeped deep into White’s bones, as so many of these tracks are tinged by heartbreaking pedal-steel guitar and saloon-style piano. His love for and commitment to traditional American music is on full display in this top-shelf collection, but after hearing “Sixteen Saltines” (a highly addictive rocker that makes more use of two chords in one track than most players dream of in an entire lifetime) you’ll wish for more of that flat-out annihilation.

Get both of these right now. Do it.