When Broken Boy Soldiers was released, the hype surrounding Jack White’s first venture into a side project was massive, yet there has been almost no advance hype surrounding Consolers of the Lonely, the Raconteurs’ second release (sent to Press and Public at the same time and day) and I am sure they couldn’t be happier with the silence.
Dressed in a solid, blood-red and standing in front of a plain red stage, with an apple red guitar, Jack White kicked off the White Stripes’ first show at Madison Square Garden in style with the bare-boned power-blues of “Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground”, kicking the fictional brother/sister team off and running and they didn’t stop for the next two hours.
You’re staring at a record that has enough spit and polish to be mainstream; enough off-kilter punk blues for diehards; enough sonic experimentation to cover up the groups’ normal shortcomings (Meg’s elementary drumming); lyrics that come from the wise and fun loving ventricle of Jacks heart (“And lots of other situations where I don’t know what to do/at which time God screams to me/“There’s nothing left for me to tell you”)…and you’re staring at the album of the year.
These Raconteurs have a story to tell; they are one of the most exciting, tightest bands playing today, and put on one of the best shows of the year.
Though clocking in at a little over a half hour along ten songs, you just expect more from a Jack White band. Broken Boy Soldiers fails to deliver any type of kick-start to the ears, or heart for that matter.
this may well be the Zeppelin III of indie/CMJ-rock.
The only promise these tunes can deliver is one for the cult lavish, who enjoy their music on the dirty and dark side. It’s been said the Liars frenzied live performances are quite the catch on the New York scene, so hopefully that energy is a bit more cohesive than the one preserved on record.
