This is How I Spend My Time AKA My Neighbors Probably Thought There Was an Earthquake

Been practicing the bass guitar lately because I'm trying to get in a band, and bass is really my better instrument. Today for a change I plugged in my fuzz box, too, and one thing led to another and I spent an hour on this experiment, documented below:

QUESTION: Which songs by the White Stripes would be totally badass if played on a fuzz bass?

INTRODUCTION: I really like a band called Whirlwind Heat which is mainly a bass guitarist and drummer, though their singer also sometimes plays a MiniMOOG Rogue synthesizer. For the soundtrack to the abysmal Rob Schneider comedy The Hot Chick they performed a version of "You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)", a song originally by the White Stripes (not coincidentally the two bands are from the same area and Jack White produced their first album). I consider this to be a proof of concept, that some White Stripes songs are totally badass when performed in this unconventional manner.

Further background, before I switched to guitar and before I heard of Whirlwind Heat, I was working on a version of "Seven Nation Army" (when that song was brand new) on the bass, a natural fit as Jack goes out of his way on this song to imitate a bass guitar sound on his guitar (which I would call CHEATING. CHEATER.)

Anyway when I started playing bass today I played "Seven Nation Army", with fuzz, for a lark, and halfway through stopped to run across the room and grab my slide so I could play the solo with slide AND fuzz. Unsurprisingly, this was awesome. Then, as is my custom, I started playing "Black Math", the next song on that album, and this, surprisingly, was also quite awesome.

Thusly I set out to prove ONCE AND FOR ALL, which White Stripes songs are awesome when played on a fuzz bass, FOR SCIENCE. Because we all know science is all about answering questions nobody asked or would ever ask.

THE RESULTS:


Awesome: You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl) (this is surmised based on Whirlwind Heat's version),  Hello Operator (would be better with harmonica accompaniment), Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, I Can't Wait, Now Mary, Seven Nation Army, Blue Orchid (would probably be way more awesome if I had the POG effects box he uses on this song), Red Rain (played without slide, might be more awesome with), I'm Slowly Turning into You (again, would be better with the POG)

Insanely awesome: Sister Do You Know My Name?, Truth Doesn't Make a Noise (those two really surprised me but they were SO FUCKING AWESOME GUYS), Black Math, Hypnotize, Icky Thump (would be even better with the POG and maybe with a Bass Synth effect but holy shit was this one cool)

Not awesome, but could be with some more work: Wasting My Time, Fell in Love With a Girl

I didn't try these but I'm fairly certain they would be awesome: Cannon, When I Hear My Name, Little Bird, Apple Blossom, Offend in Every Way, I Think I Smell a Rat, I Can Learn, In the Cold Cold Night, The Hardest Button to Button, Denial Twist

If I thought there were any point I'd whip up some drum sequencer tracks and record versions of some of these. If I knew a drummer I'd start a freaking cover band.

Oh wait one more:

Honorable Mention: Astronomy Domine (This is a Pink Floyd song but I played some of it between songs and it would be totally awesome I assure you. Even better with a synth as well. Therefore Whirlwind Heat should cover this one. You have your orders. DO IT.)