.. well, that’s definitely one of them.

Truth be told, it had been quite a while since I had paid a visit to my local vinyl temple before I decided to drop in on the early listening engagement for Jack White’s upcoming record ‘Boarding House Reach.’

Is it just me, or do all vinyl record stores bear the same lingering smell? It’s this easily recognizable aroma of mildew, dust, and the concentrated musk of the 1970s trapped behind layers of shrink-wrapped plastic. If you told me that Jack White has this fragrance bottled up on his vanity, I wouldn’t be surprised. (Any of Jack White’s aides, feel free to hit me in the DMs. Off the record.)

By luck, I live right around the corner from one of these many record stores participating in the ‘early listening parties’ that happened internationally on March 9th, 2018. Given that Jack White is the creative force behind projects like ‘The Raconteurs’, ‘The Dead Weather’, and some other band from the 90s that I think was called ‘The Peppermints’, I figured that I was going to be squeezing into an at-capacity venue slammed with aficionados of both White’s music and the burgeoning vinyl record revival. Thankfully, the crowd was modest at best and there wasn’t a bad seat in the house as, promptly at 5:30 in the evening, the needle was set in the groove on the newest Jack White solo album.

I found out later that the record store in question wasn’t included on the list of participating venues on Third Man Record’s website. That, however, did not stop them from doing a raffle for a variety of trademark blue, black and white merchandise. It wouldn’t be a Jack White event without some kind of color coordination — and who would have it any other way? Buttons emblazoned with the main hook from the album’s single ‘Corporation’ were passed out to anyone who came through the door. A tote bag, and a tri-color 7" vinyl pressing of another single, ‘Over and Over and Over’, all were raffled off when the 44-minute run time of the album dried up.

“ — but what about the music?” I can hear you saying.

One thing I can tell you for sure is that a vinyl listening party is not the type of medium that I will be rushing off to in order to take notes on an artist’s upcoming release any time soon. Somewhere in Nashville, Jack White is grinning, knowing that his influence pushed thousands of people out to their nearest record store to listen to his music on his favorite format. I, personally, need some headphones and a dark, quiet room to properly get the full experience out of what I’m trying to drink in.

That said, however, attending the listening event was, in a strange and cerebral way, a sort of window into why Jack White is such a champion for vinyl records — enough of one to open up his own vinyl record pressing plant — and I think I get it.

Standing in that concrete building with band posters stapled to the ceiling and rows upon rows of dusty old records, where the wall art was comprised entirely of vinyls too scratched to be played and whatever merchandising material the store received to promote a new album, I felt like I understood why Jack White has taken it upon himself to contribute to the swelling revival of vinyl appreciation. The record store used to be a sort of perpetual Socratic seminar, and a precursor to the discussion that, today, takes place all via reddit and inclusive forum communities that have been kicking around for years. It was a place that music lovers of all ages could come, listen to some new records, and have a chat over what band they had seen play their local dive bar.

Let’s be honest, though.

Anyone who even considered going to Jack White’s listening engagement was already going to be listening to his music in some manner that would result in financial benefit for his label. Hosting these simultaneous listening parties instead speaks to this earnest belief that White feels his music is best heard spun from a turntable — with the added benefit of building hype for the release, I’ll admit, but mostly the turntable thing.

Frankly, after hearing the telltale fuzzy crackles of the needle set in the groove before the opening drone of ‘Connected By Love’ synthetically buzzed into life, I’d have a hard time disagreeing with him. As the multi-instrumentalist’s voice crooned into the improvised music hall, there was a mystical moment where the chatter faded. Just like that, a couple dozen people were sharing in the moment together as we all were connected by a common love for the sonic sounds we were experiencing.

The following 44 minutes, relatively unblemished by interruption, all in attendance were treated to Jack White’s most musically eccentric, daring, and dangerous record to date.

One minute, there would be an extended bongo solo. Moments later, a pugnacious guitar riff a la ‘The White Stripes’ (they were almost named ‘The Peppermints’) reverberated through the cramped store. In the crooning country amble of a penultimate track, there were hip-hop trills hiding in the back beat.

Some tracks fell flatter than others, but when all was said and done, I left the event with a couple of takeaways:

It’s less of a concept album than I thought it was going to be.

Jack White shows more multi-genre influence in this album than any of his previous solo work.

If you’re looking for a bombastic rock n’ roll track and you’ve listened to the singles that have been put out so far, you’ve already heard all this album has to offer you.

Ultimately, I’d say Jack White accomplished what he set out to. I left the hole-in-the-wall vinyl peddler with a bit more reverence for the thing White holds so sacred.

— and the new album is good, too, I guess.