Music Review: The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
The Raconteurs have finally found their sound. Unlike their outstanding but sonically fractured debut – 2006’s Broke Boy Soldiers – Consolers of the Lonely is a tight, crisp, and slick album that is the first truly definitive musical statement by the Raconteurs as a cohesive band.
As has been heavily documented, the Raconteurs are a supergroup consisting of Jack White of the White Stripes, critically acclaimed but commercially ignored Brendan Benson, and perhaps the most talented rhythm section in garage rock, deriving most directly from the Greenhornes, Jack Lawrence, and Patrick Keeler.
On their first record – specifically as it related to the songwriting duties handled by both Benson and White – the melding of styles and influences was an aspect that was very lacking in execution. In other words, while the tracks on Broken Boy Soldiers were, as self contained entities, very strong, it was also very easy to decipher the source member of their genesis – with both men hesitant to fully release themselves from the signature methods that established their fame.
Consolers of the Lonely is the proof that the release has been achieved and the results are an astonishing success. Rather then acting as a showcase of Mr. White and Mr. Benson’s prolific abilities to write in their own styles of music, on this latest offering a definitive Raconteurs sound strongly emerges that may surpass the quality and appeal of both man's previous works.
Taking over the larger portion of the record this new sound is incredibly successful in creating something totally unexpected in its formation – a result that no doubt highly appeals to the sensibilities of both of the group’s front-men.
While some tracks, such as the raucous thrash rock track “Salute your Solutions” and the distorted jam out “Five on Five” still echo with the riffs that are obviously influenced by White’s stylings with his other band, even these songs have been stroked with Benson’s brush and polished with an excellent rhythm section (especially when you consider what he was working with in the White Stripes) to make the cuts more full and complete than anything White released with the Stripes.
Conversely, songs such as the power pop ballad “Many Shades of Black” are heavily doused with Benson’s pop-rock leanings but are still laden with interesting rhythms and White’s piercing solos. This layering of Benson’s arraignments with a newfound grit and edge is precisely the additive that will be essential in Benson achieving a wider appeal and appreciation beyond his critical acclaim and the popularity inherently achieved from his association with White.
Elements from the former lives of both of the Raconteurs’ primary song writers are present but the real excitement in the album results from the abandonment – especially by White – of former restrictions and instead an acceptance of a new found exploration of the possibilities presented when so much talent is present in one band.
Once viewed as a “side project” or something of a novelty act, the Raconteurs prove on Consolers of the Lonely that they are a unique and permanent manifestation in their own right. They, for the first time, give credence to the notion that, their powers combined, the Raconteurs body of work may surpass that which was created by the individual members.
Moving seamlessly through punk, country, mountain, power pop, and garage rock, the Raconteurs new sound – prominently displayed on exquisitely unique cuts "The Switch and the Spur" and the grandiose "Rich Kid Blues" – continues to blur the growingly distorted lines that separate the old, narrowly defined, genres.
On Consolers of the Lonely, the band is able to tap into the intangible qualities of pure music itself, thrusting themselves into the elite philosophical realm where labeling is passé’ and music simply exists in itself – without any need for big marketing teams and expensive studio tricks. For fans of any derivative music stemming from the blues/rock family lineage, this album is a guaranteed worthwhile buy – possibly the strongest rock album that will be released in 2008.