The White Stripes are an acquired taste. Their music is abrasive by any definition. But it is with “Elephant” that Jack and Meg White reaffirm their status as the undisputed king and queen of cultured garage rock and roll music.

“Elephant” is an excellent continuation of the Stripes’ break out hit effort of 2001, “White Blood Cells.” The success of “White Blood Cells” started when their single “Hotel Yorba” became a smash in the United Kingdom and went into overdrive when “Fell in Love With a Girl” exploded here in the States.

Jack White has one of the most unique voices in rock music today. He has the ability to completely change his voice from track to track – sometimes from verse to verse – without losing any kind of vocal continuality, from the maniacal, almost sadistic laughter in “Black Math” to the soft, southern beauty of the acoustic ballad “You’ve Got Her in Your Pocket.”

Elephant is also the evolution of the White Stripes sound, with the introduction of several new musical approaches. Well, new for the White Stripes, anyway. For most bands, the idea of including a bass guitar and layered background vocals isn’t really revolutionary, but for White Stripes fans, “Elephant” changes everything. Unlike their three previous albums, there’s actually a bass guitar on several of the tracks on “Elephant,” including on the first single off the album, “Seven Nation Army.”

The inclusion of bass in the album is confusing, because it begs the question, “Why now?” If the White Stripes were trying to make a musical statement by making deep and incredible music while still being a guitar and drums band – a statement they made wonderfully in their first three albums – why change things now? To be fair, a bass line is probably essential to achieve the anthem-march vibe on “Seven Nation Army,” but I am really baffled why Jack White chose to completely change the band and make the song extremely difficult for him to play live successfully. Part of the magic of the band was that this thick and solid sound was being made by just two instruments, and adding bass ruins that.

Using new musical instruments aside, the Stripes remain faithful to the music their songs are built on. “De Stiji” and “White Blood Cells,” their last two albums, both had some of the best blues songs recorded by a mainstream band since Led Zeppelin, and “Elephant” still carries the blues cross. “Ball and Biscuit” is straight 12-bar blues, played with the same authority and emotion that White brings to every blues song he plays.

There are a few bad signs on “Elephant”, however. The third track on the album, “There’s No Home For You Here”, is a note-for-note rip-off of “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” also a White Stripes song and one of their most successful singles to date. Jack White, if nothing else, never seems to be the kind of musician who sometimes runs low on new material, so why was this song included on the album? It’s baffling that no one associated with this album – Meg White, the studio technicians, even Jack White himself – would not hear the undeniable similarity between “No Home for You Here” and “Dead Leaves”. It’s flat-out embarrassing and inexcusable for the band that this song is on this album.

One of the standout tracks on the album is “The Air Near My Fingers.” White plays a creamy electric organ over his guitar work which, when added to Meg White’s ever steady drumming and a fantastic melody line, makes for the catchiest song on the album. “I never said I wanted to be a man/I get nervous when she comes around,” confesses White, in some of his most open lyrics to date.

As always, Meg’s drumming is simple by Ringo Starr standards. The bass/snare/high-hat/crash simplicity of her drumming perfectly fits the striped down sound of the White Stripes. It’s the thump-thump of her bass drum that sets the mood for the “Seven Nation Army” anthem. On other songs, like “You’ve Got Her in Your Pocket” where drumming just wouldn’t fit, Meg has no problem stepping aside and letting her former husband take the spotlight. Meg even sings by herself on “In The Cold Cold Night,” and it’s a wonder that we haven’t heard more of her. Her voice is haunting, dark, and beautiful.

Those words would fit the rest of “Elephant” as well. It’s schizophrenic, trembling, fantastic garage rock with soul and class. A worthy addition to any record collection.