Raconteurs Album: The MOJO Verdict! -

Features Disc of the day

Raconteurs Album: The MOJO Verdict!

4:49 PM GMT 25/03/2008

Danny Eccleston shows tough love for Consolers Of The Lonely…

WATCHING THE RACONTEURS rock the Brixton Academy in October ’06, I found myself reflecting on how their vibe had subtly changed since their refreshingly dashed-off debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, had emerged in May.

In the spring, Jack White, so recently stranded in the heavy rough of Get Behind Me Satan, had appeared liberated, even renewed by the match-up. The rock-solid rhythm section of Patrick Keeler and Little Jack Lawrence had freed him to play guitar as daringly as he chose, while the pop instincts of arch-craftsman Brendan Benson had challenged him to come to the bloody point. The result was sprightly, inventive music that mashed up prog, new wave, power pop and hard rock dynamics in a startling and brilliant way.

But in the autumn, at Brixton, White appeared almost too liberated, looming at the front of the stage and strafing everything that moved with axe-vomit. Raconteurs were a hit, and White appeared to be over-excited by the acclaim. It was at once exhilarating, egotistical and unbalanced. Raconteurs is a band? Well, that was the idea.

So what are Raconteurs in 2008? No longer a one-off, of course. Or a fun holiday. Or a golden, too-bad-you-missed-it moment to be inscribed in future rock legend. A band once unencumbered by expectations or track record are now burdened with both. At worst, they are now obliged to justify their continued existence. At the very least, they need to display their character. Which is what, exactly…?

First impressions of Consolers Of The Lonely suggest much more of a hard rock band than we saw before. Opener Consoler Of The Lonely (sic, singular) piles on the power chords, while a voice in the background knowingly mutters “We’ll double-track that”. Singer Benson is irked by something, possibly the rock life (“I’m bored to tears”). Then Jack jumps in, scans weirdly, then solos like someone toppling off Nelson’s Column.

It sets the tone, since much else here is rifftastic to the power of rawk. Sometimes it works, as in the irresistible case of Salute Your Solution. Sometimes it doesn’t, as in the lumpen shape of Five On The Five. Then there’s Top Yourself, its hard blues stomp and banjo backdrop conjuring visions of Led Zeppelin III. Generally, Jack weighs in with a twiddly guitar solo, which is his prerogative.

In the pop corner, Old Enough bubbles along on organ swirls and violin skirls, while Hold Up is a thrilling punkoid sprint ending in back-slapping, Barbara-Ann-style studio hubbub. Many Shades Of Black adds boozy horns to a theatrical R&B number, given the full Frankie Lymon by Benson before Jack barges in with the most Brian Mayesque solo he’s ever played.

Best of all, though, is Attention, its switchback strut incorporating duckcall guitars, prog keyboards and handclaps into an appealing world of camp and weird. It is of a piece with the gleeful, prejudice-free mashup pop that made Broken Boy Soldiers MOJO’s album of the year in 2006.

Meanwhile, there is too much that is simply off-putting about Consolers Of The Lonely. Pull This Blanket Off is an infuriatingly disposable, sub-two-minute, cod-country vignette, Rich Kid Blues a stupefyingly pompous howitzering of the Terry Reid song. Too many of the lyrics are wearingly accusatory, and preoccupied with their targets’ ingratitude – but who they are and what they’re failing to appreciate is uncertain. “In the court of my heart,” grumbles Jack even so, “your ignorance is treason”.

Like a supermassive stellar mass, White always seemed a gravitational mismatch for his fellow Raconteurs. But while Benson, Keeler and Lawrence were a comet roaring past, they had the power to alter his trajectory. At rest, it’s as much as they can do to avoid being absorbed. And what was once a fiery, fast-moving fusion is now just another pile of heavy rubble.

Danny Eccleston

Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 4:49 PM GMT 25/03/2008

Comments

Comment on this post

Comments:

Name:

Click here for House Rules

Great review - I really enjoyed the read, and I'm looking forward to Jack's soloing 'like someone toppling off Nelson’s Column' !

Your words have created lovely visuals..

Posted by JT at 5:23 PM GMT 25/03/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
You're wrong this album is great

Posted by at 10:21 PM GMT 25/03/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
Yeah, this review is terrible and doesn't really capture the essence of this record or Mr. White. While this album may be busy and "over the top" in some places, it is still the best damn thing that has been released thus far this year and by this band. Mr. Eccleston, this review just proves that you're the pompous one.

Posted by at 1:23 AM GMT 26/03/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
Mojo jumped the gun on Broken Boy Soldiers, which was quite good, but not as overwhelmingly awesome as they wanted us to believe. So now they're overcompensating by giving a conservative review of Consolers. Years from now, when they write the book on Jack White, I imagine that history will show just the opposite: BBS was a fun, dashed-off album, but Consolers of the Lonely is the record that is going to make everyone take the Raconteurs seriously.

He writes: "A band once unencumbered by expectations or track record are now burdened with both." What on Earth is he talking about? When the Raconteurs first appeared, they were nothing but encumbered by expectation. Jack White's star power cast a giant shadow on the Raconteurs in 2006, but they've proved themselves to be a bona-fide band instead of a half-baked side project. I'd submit that Danny Eccleston has everything backwards.

(Note: The reviewer is way off when he suggests that the other band members are "absorbed" by White's star power. While White's incredible producing skills define each song, the musicianship of the other band members are on full display all over this record, especially Benson's songwriting and vocals.)

Posted by Jack Frost at 2:13 AM GMT 26/03/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
Right on, Jack Frost!

Posted by at 2:16 AM GMT 26/03/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
eccleston is like the referee who made a bad call against one team, so he makes another bad call to even it out. just because MOJO was alone in making Broken Boy Soldiers the best album of the year when it came out. now they're not going to recognize how AWESOME Consolers of the Lonely is.

Posted by ralph at 2:20 AM GMT 26/03/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
It's already been said--I just want to reinforce the earlier comments. MOJO made a bad call on the first Raconteurs album, and they've made an even worse call on the second, which is easily the better of the two. Perhaps you should cut your losses and leave Raconteurs reviews to others in the future--your frame of reference on these guys is hopelessly distorted.

Posted by Bribo at 1:54 PM GMT 26/03/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
Can the Jack White strokers club get off the line? What, because MOJO made Broken Boy Soldiers an album of the year they've now decided to slag this one off to get the balance right? Duh yeah! Got to keep the karmic review balance right in the universe, dooode! Simple point is that on BBS Raconteurs were carefree power pop force and this new album is a up-itself wank-fest. Lleaden. Dull, dull, dull.

Posted by Dave from the grave at 4:02 PM GMT 26/03/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
RE: Dave from the grave

You're a douche. Stroke this (I'm giving you the finger)! And what the fuck does "Duh yeah!" mean?

Posted by Union Jack at 7:37 PM GMT 28/03/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
This Mojo Verdict is like a late Saturday football report one hears on the radio. Rushed and just filling space on the page.

The album is great I'll give it a 9.5/10 the only let downs are a couple of weak intros to a couple of tracks.

So there you go.

Buy it and enjoy it as the Raconteurs latest Opus.

Posted by Surealneil at 8:35 PM GMT 28/03/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
In the face of such a bruising intellectual broadside, Cap'n Oi!, you might expect me to retire hurt. Not at all. The majority is always wrong. This is obviously the right album, but for all the wrong people. And "Duh yeah" obviously means that I would only concur with the arguments posited in the above thread if I were incapable of coherent thought. Like this: Duuurrrrhhhhh!! Keep on' strokin', cheesewad!

Posted by Dave from the grave at 12:18 PM GMT 31/03/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
RE: Jack Frost

I absolutely agree - the first album was patchy but a grower! This ones varied and accessible from country to punk frenzy. The inclusion of brass and violin is triumphant and makes it a far better album than Get behind thee Satan. Pull thsi blanket off is the only weak track and the whip and the spur is glorious!! A marvellous album that has taken us all by surprise!!

Posted by Tim Armitage at 6:42 PM GMT 01/04/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
Jack White fans will suck anything up. Broken Boy Soldiers didn't deserve best album of the year in 06 anyways.

Posted by Thelonious at 9:39 PM GMT 02/04/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
Jack White fans will suck anything up. Broken Boy Soldiers didn't deserve best album of the year in 06 anyways.

Posted by Thelonious at 9:45 PM GMT 02/04/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
Sorry for the double post.

But it kind of deserved a double post, if you get what I mean.

Posted by at 9:55 PM GMT 02/04/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
Sorry for the double post.

But it kind of deserved a double post, if you get what I mean.

Posted by Thelonious at 9:56 PM GMT 02/04/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post
As true as it is that Jack White fans will absorb the album anyway. The review is rushed, probably partly because the album was released without proper promotion meaning reviewers had to push reviews out quickly. The album on the first couple of listens doesn't sound so great. But after a while once you get into the lyrics and the diversity you realise it's a good album, i thought the same about Icky Thump... it's not exactly 5 star, but it's certainly competitive.

Posted by Ace-Attorney at 2:20 PM GMT 08/04/2008 Report Abuse

Reply to this post