I have listened to this album about four times now, and my impression is still as positive as it was when I first heard it. Stylistically, the album is not much of a departure from their debut. Many of the Raconteurs’ most defining features are still here: big guitar riffs, Beatle-esque vocal harmonies between White and Benson, and experimental instrumentation, this time expanding into violins. However, the band have shaped up well to the second album, and deliver fourteen (if ‘Pull This Blanket Off’, clocking in at under two minutes, really counts) excellent songs, a relief after Broken Boy Soldier’s mere ten left us begging for more.Primarily, I would say that one of the attractions of a band like the Raconteurs is their vintage sound, and their ability to take 60s/70s garage rock and update to a new century immaculately. This album is still bathed in retro, and that is something I’m thankful for. With rockers like the title track ‘Consolers of the Lonely’, single ‘Salute Your Solution’ and ‘Hold Up’, the band evoke classic sounds of bands like the Who - riff driven guitar songs which still have the same power today. This is Jack White in White Stripes mode, complete with his trademark: the tempo-changing riff breakdown, as seen on ‘Icky Thump’, as well as ‘Consolers of the Lonely’. Throughout the album, this is balanced by Brendan Benson’s excellent contributions, which have a more ‘singer-songwriter’ feel to them, one example being ‘The Switch And The Spur’, a piano and brass-led ballad in which Benson sings of how ‘An appaloosa and a wanted man sprung from jail’. It’s quirky lyrics like these, harking back to Americana and country, which firmly place the Raconteurs in a genre of their own, apart from the monotony of dance-floor romance indie lyrics. Yet they seem to do it while still retaining a coolness essential to their image, see the ‘Salute Your Solution’ video to see what I mean.Elsewhere on the record, the band dabble in blues (‘Top Yourself’), rock, country and at times unashamed pop, in numbers such as the catchy ‘You Don’t Understand Me’ (‘but if the feeling was right / you might comprehend me), and Benson’s soulful ‘Many Shades Of Black’, which in the verse sounds like it could have been sung by Aretha Franklin in 1966. Some more dedicated fans may be wary of these more middle-of-the-road pieces, but personally I believe they give the album some healthy variety, as well as being catchy as hell, which could help the band in the singles department.Aside from the Raconteur’s two main stars, I must mention Patrick Keeler’s impressive performance on drums, which Jamie Fullerton unexplainably likened to Meg White’s. I disagree. Any White Stripes fan will know that Meg White has a very distinctive drumming style, her trademark being big, crashing beats on the cymbals, in crotchets. While effective in its own way, Patrick Keeler is undoubtedly a more technically skilled and accomplished rock drummer than White, one who should be given praise. One example of his talents ishis clever hight-hat beat in the verse of ‘Salute Your Solution’, another is his use of tom-toms in ‘The Switch And The Spur’ to add a darker, mysterious feel to the song, and his flawless ability to keep up with Jack White’s many tempo and time-signature changes.The band’s habit of experimenting occasionally does more harm than good, ‘Pull This Blanket Off’ being one example. While it does contain some nice guitar work, it’s basically the classic Random Short Jack White Song, which occurs once on about every White Stripes album, and contributes nothing to this Raconteurs one.My favourite song on the album? So far, it’s ‘Old Enough’, which uses folky violins to tremendous effect, echoing Neil Young, and incorporating some organ and fantastic vocal harmonies. If you like this album like I do, you’ll have this song in your head for weeks.In conclusion, I think any Raconteurs fan should be more than satisfied. America’s best band have returned with more songs, more riffs, and more old-school charm. And who knows, maybe the more commercial tracks like soon-to-be single ‘You Don’t Understand Me’ will pull some more music fans into the wonderful world of the Raconteurs.Jackson Caines
Sun 06 Apr, 2008
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The Raconteurs 'Consolers Of The Lonely': review
Read NME.COM's review of Jack White and co's new LP
Tue 25 Mar, 2008
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