Consolers of the Lonely

The second album from the Raconteurs came as a bit of a surprise to most, not least because the band decided against any pre-release promotion, only giving press the heads up a week before the date it would hit the shelves.  Perhaps peeved by the constant reference to their little endeavour as a “supergroup” – members are all in other bands (The White Stripes, The Greenhornes) or have a solo career going (Brendan Benson) – the sneaky release meant no promos, and no time for critics to review before the public got their paws on it. 

Lucky it’s really good then.

I’ll disclose right now that I am a White Stripes fan, I think Jack White is a great songwriter, the influence of blues and classic rock on his work has yielded some fantastic results over the past few years.  I.  Just.  Hate.  Meg.  How can you be in a band for ten years and still sound like you learned how to play the drums a few weeks ago?!  It was really starting to get me down, and then the Raconteurs came along.  Jack with full band!  Sans ex-wifey!  Brendan Benson’s voice complements nicely, two guitars mean more meat to the melodies, and, praise Jesus, bass and drums!  GOOD bass and drums!

If you’ve heard their 2006 release, Broken Boy Soldiers, you’ll notice the difference, not least the addition of a horn section to many of the songs.  It’s the good kind of different though.  The title track is a great opener, with bluesy riffs, tempo changes and then after a minute and a bit, White’s high-pitched vocal intro.  First single Salute Your Solution also stands out, and The Switch and the Spur will be in your head for days thanks to the epic piano and trumpet-led intro and chorus.  The horns continue on Many Shades of Black, with quiet verses building up to a barnstormer of a chorus and a guitar solo with more than a hint of Brian May about it (that’s cool, we like Queen).  Five on the Five is for that point in the party when everything is just fantastic, and everybody wants to hop up and down for three and a half minutes.  You know, just after the point when we’re all comfortable with each other, but before we’re all drunk and somebody sits in the dip.  I would invite the Raconteurs to my party, yes I would.

4/5, it gets.

See them this summer at the Oxegen festival (they are pretty damn good live!).  www.theraconteurs.com