The Raconteurs: Consolers of the Lonely

Last week the Raconteurs announced that they had a new record prepped an ready to go for release on March 25th simultaneously in digital and physical formats. A statement that caught a lot of people off guard, but the intent was in good nature as the band saw this as a way to thwart off internet leaks.

Then on the 22nd a glitch in Apple’s Itunes store made the album available to download for a short period of time, and soon it was being passed around on the all over the internet. So much for that.

Either way, everybody now has access to the Raconteurs new record in all its vintage goodness.

Right from the start the Raconteurs make an emphatic point that they are a full blown band. They are not Jack White’s side project that some have perceived them to be. An issue that was quickly dismissed after the reception of their slick debut, Broken Boy Soldiers. The songwriting duo of Brendan Bensen and Jack White is back in full force pumping out more than 20 minutes of more music than their first record.

Album opener “Consoler of the Lonely” spotlights each member of the band and serves its purpose well as an introduction to the record. This leads into the rip-roaring current single “Salute Your Solution” that gets Jack White screaming “and now they want to take it” as he’s running out of breath.

There record shows definite signs of growth as the band has been playing together for a few years now. Songs are looser and more organic than before, but there are also spots that seem more like filler.

Just to get it out of the way there is the persistent track-skipper “Hold Up” which pleadingly shouts its title. Wow! How expected - skip. While on “Pull This Blanket Off” it is as White may have forgotten which band he was in as it has the quaint vibe off some early White Stripes songs, but is out of place in the context of this band.

Those missteps are quickly forgotten though when they give you songs like “Many Shades of Black.” Which has a distinct Queen-vibe to it with its operatic build of the of Bensen’s vocal melody in the verse and Jack White’s new favorite instrument, trumpets, accenting the chorus.

“The Switch and the Spur” brings the horns back to add to the Flamenco-styled song. It all constructs into a biblical-sounding chant of “any poor souls who trespass against us whether it be beast or man ... for this is their power and this is their kingdom as sure as the sun does burn.” It is epic.

Equal to that in scope is “Carolina Drama” which easily contains some the best lyrics that Jack White has written. A song that tells that story of young boy caught in a family drama. The boy’s mom has a boyfriend who is a “triple loser with some blue tattoos that were given to him when he was young/ and a drunk temper that was easy to lose thank god he didn’t own a gun.” The story progresses and hits its climax with a closing sing-a-long chorus of “la la la/ la la la la yeah.”

Attendees of their last tour should recognize “Five on the Five,” which chugs on a intimidating bass-line with White’s maniacal high-pitched yelp before it bursts into an 80s style pop-rock bouncer.

“Top Yourself” contains dirty slide guitar reminiscent of songs from the White Stripes’ De Stijl is already great as is. Yet you cannot help but think how the song would take on an entirely different context if Bensen had sung it.

There is plenty of variety on this record to keep it at the very least interesting and fun to listen to.