Jack White, “No Name.”

Capitalism makes a product out of everything. We don’t just purchase clothing, food and all of the other stuff we need to survive. Capitalism also sells us notions about who we are, what we want, and — ironically — even how to resist the system. As a result, even our own best revolutionary efforts end up reinforcing the status quo. The endlessly enigmatic Jack White blew minds by releasing a new album with a plain white sleeve with the words “No Name” stamped on its cover.

Third Man Records gave it away for free to customers buying anything else at their record stores in Detroit, London and Nashville. There was no publicity or big roll out for the record (other than the aforementioned stunt).

Here’s the kicker: The album rocks!

White put out two very different solo albums two years ago. The futuristic and hip-hop-inflected Fear of the Dawn and the more sedate and acoustic Entering Heaven Alive.

The new one blows the doors off with a return to the intensity of early White Stripes albums. The first two songs “Old Scratch Blues” and “Bless Yourself,” are serious riff rockers that split the difference between Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. White dishes out Jimmy-Page-like riffage over a rock solid rhythm section. And so here’s the thing: Jack White is really fired up, and that feels like old White Stripes, but White’s current drummer is a lot better than Meg White, and it may be an unpopular opinion, but I feel like some of the musical intensity suffers as a result. It’s weirdly paradoxical. But we don’t want to hear Tool’s Danny Carey sitting in for Ringo.

The third tune conjures a sort of Nirvana 2.0 sound with its quiet/loud arrangement. “When it’s cold outside/ I need the strength to stay alive/ And when I’m in my home/ I need the strength to be alone,” White sings with a bit of a Cobain vibe. The sixth tune, “Bombing Out,” moves between sinister wah-wah guitar parts and punk power chords. The second song on side B, “Underground,” has more melodic content than the rest of the album, but still relies on foot-stomping intensity.

White’s latest album gives Greta Van Fleet fans the opportunity to listen to another paean to Led Zeppelin by people who do it almost as well. Instead of GVF’s misty mountain mysticism take, White is offering up the sweating swagger and addled and amped vibe of Zep’s first two albums. The new album is evidence he has tapped into a new source of inspiration, perhaps his marriage to Olivia Jean in 2022.

While the album’s future is unclear, in terms of a wider release, copies of White’s initial free offering of the record are selling between $800 and $2,000 online. This is why we can’t have nice stuff!

This story was updated on July 29 with the official song titles, following a release by Jack White.