Jack White and Brenden Benson’s part-time band, The Raconteurs, gives rock and roll a swift kick in the ass with Consolers of the Lonely, and proves that there really is good music left to hear. Your iPod is not surprised. Audiobomb is. Hit the jump for the full review.
The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely
I’m going to say something that might seem a little controversial; something that may seem like a belligerent nose-thumbing to the music critic community. Here it goes:
The White Stripes suck.
There. I said it, but hear me out. It’s not that their music is without merit, because they continue to be one of the most enigmatic and fresh bands in the musical landscape today. I say such definitive statements because of Jack White’s insistence to keep a certain rhythmically deficient young lady around, whose charming lack of skill does nothing for his songs other than make the listener long for a day when he’d get together with real musicians and make some real music.
The Raconteurs were the realization of that dream… almost. Their first album, Broken Boy Soldiers, was raucous and mean, but it lacked that megaton punch you expect from such a project and ultimately felt rushed, unfinished and unfocused. It’s a good thing the band went back to the studio as 2008 has its first great rock album.
White and Brendan Benson, who both share vocals, guitar and songwriting duties, offer a great counterpoint to their individual strengths. Benson has a very Paul McCartney kind of sensibility to his swelling vocal refrains on tracks like the dreamy “You Don’t Understand Me,” to balance out White’s rip-roaring assault. White’s country-western fetish, which is in full effect on “Carolina Drama” and “Top Yourself,” sharply contrasts the Phil Spector Wall of Sound of “Many Shades of Black,” and the hipster rock of “Attention.” Consolers of the Lonely somehow feels complete, though, even as White and Benson play with the many shades of Rock and Roll. It’s a high-wire balancing act full of hand-claps, high-gain distortion, acoustic guitars and the occasional synthesizer.
When the two artists get together, though, it’s twice as sweet. The opening track, “Consoler of the Lonely,” and its follow up, “Salute your Solution,” are packed full of biggest 70’s arena-rock hooks and put to shame throwback bands like the Black Crowes. Whites’ guitar work retains that raw, uncontained intensity even while rattling around inside the tighter, more melodic songs. His solo in “Hold Up” is a marked highlight.
I can’t decide if it would be better for the members of The Raconteurs to quit their full-time bands or if what makes the band so exciting is the fact that it’s a passion-project for all involved. Either way, Consolers of the Lonely is exactly what rock music needed. A loud, brash, well put challenge for rock bands everywhere to step it up. I, for one, hope more than a few bands heed the call.
No Comments Yet
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
