Album Review: The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely

With Consolers of the Lonely, Jack White and his accomplices take another stab at making the rock-God-status-achieving album that they were hoping for with their first LP Broken Boy Soldiers two years earlier. However, as much as Jack White ("Jack White III" being his new, hopefully temporary moniker) wants people to think that the Raconteurs aren't just a "side project" for him, it's hard not to think of it as anything but this. Despite this second effort being much more musically and conceptually ambitious than their first, it still pales in comparison to anything the White Stripes have put out.

After the first few tracks, it becomes immediately obvious that White and Brendan Benson (who alternate both songwriting and vocal credits) are reaching for something much more hard-hitting than their mostly wimpy debut. The album definitely kicks with an engaging start, opening with a pair of great, raw rock diddies. While the first half of the album is fairly consistent with material far more exciting than songs from Broken Boy Soldiers, the second album begins to wane a bit with a few easily skippable tracks ("Attention", "These Stones Will Shout"). It's not that they're particularly bad songs, it's just they simply lack the kinetic, raw drive that Jack White is known to carry along with him whenever he's got a guitar clenched between his albino-white fists.

Now, please don't let this criticism scare you away. In fact let it excite you that the worst songs on the album are only "kind of boring". Which leads me to safely deem many other tracks as pretty freaking awesome. White and Benson definitely hit their stride on many tracks, and not just the ones that sound like White Stripes songs. "Old Enough" is probably the shiniest gem in the jewel box, with an incredibly hooky melodic with a country flare. There's also the triumphant "Many Shades of Black" that implements horns and a great vocal performance by Benson to achieve about four engaging climaxes throughout the song's duration (not to mention a wicked White solo thrown in as well).

And finally, I couldn't go mentioning the stunner of a closer, "Carolina Drama", which finally legitimizes the band's name choice (save yourself some time; def: raconteur = storyteller). The song manages to tell a harrowing and incredibly detailed tale of a boy that steps up to protect his family from his mother's abusive boyfriend, and in doing changes the lives of his entire family. The songcraft is brilliant, lulling us deeper after each verse and building to an incredible finale.

All in all, I'd have to say that Consolers of the Lonely is a big step forward for the band. It certainly has a good amount of tunes that completely blast away their debut LP. However, with a duration that runs almost twice as long, it's frustrating to think how much more solid of an album this would be if three or four songs were left as B-sides. Either way, the album has a lot to offer, and certainly no one can be upset when Jack White is continually putting out material while still in the height of his creative arch.

Key Tracks:
Old Enough
Rich Kid Blues
Carolina Drama

Final Verdict: 8.0