ALBUM REVIEW: The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely

The Raconteurs
Consolers of the Lonely
Third Man, 2008
**** out of 5

Many successful musicians have what could politely be called follies; vanity projects which have the faithful shaking their heads ruefully and hoping for the next proper release to arrive all the sooner. Some of the more notable examples of this leave-of-senses taking include both of Lou Barlow’s Sebadoh side projects, Folk Implosion and Sentridoh. As well, we have Bill Wyman’s classic WTF moment with Je Suis Un Rock Star? And finally, any solo project by a member of The Who could be considered the grandest of follies, especially those releases featuring the atonal singing of patented exploding drummer Keith Moon.

So when The Raconteurs made their appearance a couple of years back with 2006’s Broken Boy Soldiers, it looked pretty much like just another piece of ego trippin’. Jack White, by now a global colossus with the dynamic duo White Stripes, teamed up with his old mucker Brendan Benson and a rust-belt rhythm section to get some kicks laying down Detroit rock city riffs. This allowed White to escape the relentless glare of the spotlight while simultaneously letting him pretend to be “one of the gang”, which is something he doesn’t get when it’s just him and a silent, lead-footed drummer out there on the nation’s stages.

The Raconteurs' goal isn’t necessarily to make to world’s most original music. The goal is to rock righteously, and if elements of their record collections come flying a little too obviously out of the grooves, well who cares? Only a music obsessive would find his (for it is almost always a he) appreciation of the music tempered by the fact that this bit sounds like The Stooges, or that bit sounds somewhat Zeppelin-esque, or the other bit even has some Supergrass creeping around the chorus.

Thus, it was a bit of a surprise to find that, a year and a half later, we’re presented with a brand new Raconteurs record, Consolers of the Lonely, which not only rocks harder than the debut, is a superior record in almost every way.

For one thing, it really sounds great in a car, and so what if you can name fifteen bands that it sounds a little bit like, because it’s well-written, well-performed and well-produced. Plus, I have to give kudos to any American band that employs such a Canuck inflected chorus as that of, You Don’t Understand Me, so very Sloan-like it is.

As well, Consolers of the Lonely has country-ish tinges of Poco in Old Enough. Pull This Blanket could have been an offcut from the Stones’ swampy and heroic Exile on Mainstream.

With their second album a solid sophomore effort, perhaps we can put away the notion that The Raconteurs are Jack White’s folly, and simply accept that the lonely soul who may need consoling is probably Meg White.

Review by Greg Hood-Morris

Agree? Disagree? Email Greg at criticizegreg@gmail.com