The White Stripes

Amidst a field overcrowded with teen-pop and nu-metal, Detroit's White Stripes emerged at the tail end of the 1990s as a new hope for gutsy, no-frills rock & roll. Their doggedly minimalist sound--just one guitar and a drum kit--heralded a return to the raw, gritty garage-rock of the '60s and early '70s, as practiced by such hometown acts as the venerable MC5 and the Stooges. Even the band's image was striking, as Meg and Jack White employed only primary colors in their wardrobe. Reinventing blues riffs for the 21st century in a sonically crushing rock context, they could be either the Led Zeppelin of the modern age or the little siblings of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, but either way, they make a glorious racket.

• rock
• 2000s