I don’t think the White Stripes actually “defined” much of anything the way people suggest. I feel like their supposed influence waned almost immediately, unless in some abstract sense where someone might point to the 3 or 4 other big two person acts that arguably received more exposure as a result. Indie rock going forward for the next decade or more was much more strongly & visibly defined by The Strokes.

I guess it comes down to what we mean by “defined”. If it just means like, what people of a certain age vaguely remember as often being played on VH1, or people of a certain age remembering everyone having Seven Nation Army on their iPods during gym class then... I guess so?