It sounds good, Jack's scratchy opening "woo!" and the dirty, pounding drums recalling many of the White Stripes' early firecracker singles. But then, Jack starts singing, and his voice sounds oddly processed; maybe it's the slightly delayed vocal double-tracking. Whatever it is, it also doesn't help that Jack sings much more dully than usual, even though we know, based on his SNL performance, he can still sing like his usual firebrand self.
"Sixteen Saltines" continues to get a little dicey at its first break, at which point the cymbals sound looser than the rest of the drumming. They sound even worse with that weird after-clap sound that is especially pronounced at 1:35; I don't know if it's the way they're attached to the kit, the way they're played, they way they've been touched up in the studio or a combination of all three, but they sound too rattly for this otherwise tight-fisted wrecking ball rocker.
I don't know if the audio here is poor quality (it is a radio-rip) or if this is just how the song sounds, but much of this version sounds pretty weak to me, especially Jack's vocals and the weird warbly effects on the guitar solo beginning at 2:01.
I would definitely like the album version of "Sixteen Saltines" more if it lost at least most of its reverb, such as the ringing in the opening chords, and instead sounded tighter and "drier" like most of the material Jack has produced for other artists. Take Wanda Jackson's bombastic album The Party Ain’t Over for example which sounds big in how cohesive and clear all of its details are but doesn't sound loud unless listeners turn up the volume.
Overall, the majority of the album version of "Sixteen Saltines" sounds like a demo to me, obtusely recorded as a placeholder for underdeveloped ideas. But I'm aware that like with all White Stripes songs (I'm citing the White Stripes because they are whom "Sixteen Saltines" most recalls), the live version has spoiled me. I rarely listen to the White Stripes' albums compared to their live sessions because those sessions just make the band sound so muted on record, and I got to hear "Sixteen Saltines" in all of its explosive live glory before I heard the studio version. Most importantly though, I realize that all of my complaints here concern the album version's technical aspects; "Sixteen Saltines" is still a wicked, wicked song in essence. And despite having hated "Blue Orchid" and "Icky Thump" the first times I heard them, I came to love them like any other White Stripes song, and I already love "Sixteen Saltines" (again, in essence), so there's hope for me and the album version yet.
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