I was originally going to write a "real" review of this album, when I realized, screw that shit, I ain't no music critic. I'm a music fan. It does no good for me to analyze the album -- I love Jack White and even if he released an album of nature sounds I'd buy it because he could make even that dynamic. He doesn't always nail it, but man, does he try.
Which is why I'm pleased to report that The Raconteurs, which he fronts with solo-act Brendan Benson, along with Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler of The Greenhornes on bass and drums, respectively, is no sideshow project. The band is the real deal, and their sophomore effort comes through in spades.
The album's title track starts off the adventure, with a deceptively White Stripesian guitar riff before the drums come in and you know, this isn't some White Stripes derivative ordeal. This is a rock 'n roll band. Song grooves along, and just when you think it's gonna be boring, Jack White jumps in, screaming over the opening riff, like he and Benson were torn in two different directions. White Stripes or Raconteurs? But then -- BAM -- it speeds up again, plowing ahead like it needs to, bringing you with it. You remember why you like this band as a separate entity from White's other musical adventure, held steady (as she goes, if you will) by solid rhythm work from Keeler and Lawrence. The drums really add to the sound, and you're glad White decided to leave Meg off in the country for this excursion.
Lead single "Salute Your Solution" is the second track on the album and the one I skip past the most. I've heard it too much, and it's good, a single, but it doesn't hold me like other songs on the album. If you haven't heard it, turn on the radio. Form your own opinion.
"You Don't Understand Me" begins with a breathy "1-2-3-4" and a piano steps in, then bass and drums, and Jack White sings, tenderly, "You don't understand me, but if the feeling was right you might comprehend me." Maybe, Jack. The Raconteurs' signature sound comes through in the harmonies between White and Benson, and it's a mellow little piece that reminds me, inexplicably, of the Beatles. Maybe it's the background vocals, but it really sticks with me.
In fact, I get a lot of The Beatles from this album. I can't quite nail down what it is, but it's there. Maybe it's the chord changes, or selections in production, but whatever it is, it's not bad when a song makes you think of perhaps the most influential rock band of all time.
(Yeah, you heard me.)
"Old Enough" begins quietly, with Benson and White singing together over gentle guitar picking before they hit you over the head with a fiddle, rock organ, and the rest of the band. If Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem of Muppets fame made a legitimate rock song, in the real world, I imagine parts of it would sound a lot like this. It's not trying to hard, and brings to mind the fact that despite their origins as musicians in Detroit, Nashville is the home of this band now. "What you gonna do (what you gonna do?) now?" I don't know, let's see!
Following track "The Switch and the Spur" adds to the sense that this album represents a kind of national rock 'n roll. "In the heat of the desert sun on the blistering trail an appaloosa and, a wanted man sprung from jail..." And there it is. I felt like I was driving through Texas, the hot sun casting down on the desert, as the horns in the song blare, the piano chiming along, the drums beating slowly, methodically. Like each song represents a different locale, a different style. The song itself is a little too long, a little too cluttered to be classic, but the Raconteurs give it their all, and if not a victory, it's not quite a loss.
We then get a trilling guitar before the band starts to shout "HOLD UP!" One of the guitarists (either Benson or White) decides to tear it up a little bit with the drums before we get to the meat. It's thrilling in this day of pop-punk and hardcore on the radio that a rock band actually uses their guitar. We get a verse, and then it's back, like a fly, like a gnat we can't get rid of, moving us forward, making us hunt for it as they decide to roll out the stops, to avoid the pretension, and just rock out. Again, the song isn't a complete success, it's a smidge too long, like a lot of the songs on this album, but the guitar work is great, and Keeler really beats the hell out of those drums, like they called him a dirty name or something.
"Top Yourself" takes a step back, a little breather. Perhaps more than any other song on the album, this sounds like the White Stripes, if they suddenly had a full band. I think I always worry that the addition of other sounds would ruin the White Stripes aesthetic, but this song really shows what that band could be if a few more musicians hopped on board. A good song, a great White Stripes song, that sounds out of place merely because it's a song for the wrong band.
Following this is the grand, horn filled, Las Vegas version of the band with "Many Shades of Black." I originally thought this was a cover, it's so out-of-place, in a way, yet it totally works. I just imagine White dressed up as Elvis, the horns behind him, until the great guitar solo kicks in and you know, well, maybe this was written by them. One of my favorites.
"Five on the Five" I think is my favorite song on the album. The Raconteurs go punk, is how I'd describe it. Hard, fast, with a jangling cow-bell in the background -- because why not? -- it rocks. Simple.
"Attention" is a Benson lead rock piece with more great work from Lawrence and Keeler. I prefer White's vocals to Benson's as the lead, but surrounded by the right melody, the right instrumentation, Benson can be the train that drives you to Rockville. Parts of it strangely-enough remind me of Bon Jovi, but in the best possible way. I mean that. For real.
"Pull This Blanket Off" and "Rich Kid Blues" are not much to speak of. I didn't really like them, they're more low key, and there's not much driving them. Skip. Skip.
But they have to go out with a bang, don't they, and the album's final track, "Carolina Drama," clocking in at nearly 6 minutes in length, is that song. The fear of a Stripes-type track sets in early with White howling like he does. But as he delves into the story of this Carolina Drama the rest of the band steps up, slowly, making sure to keep us going, but not to overwhelm the proceedings. It's a masterful little bit of musical-storytelling, and a lot of fun to listen to. It slowly escalates, more singers filling in the back, maybe a little bit of -- what is that? Ukulele? -- "La La La La La La La La Yeah." That's how I want to end my bit of time with The Raconteurs.
Consolers of the Lonely. It's out. Go get it. It's good. Lord knows I can't get enough...
-RoboNixon
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