FOR THE RECORD
By Ross Brandstatter
IV Leader Music Critic, Sept. 23, 2010
If you’re any sort of music enthusiast, I’m guessing you spend a good deal of time online, and you’ve probably observed that a lot of new music is largely dominated by dance-pop and crunk tunes; if there’s one genre still out there that’s turned mostly bland and unfulfilling nowadays, it’s rock and roll.
Although, since I make it my mission to hunt the gems hidden beneath the mountains of waste, I’ve found there is still hope for modern rock within The Raconteurs, a Nashville-based supergroup.
If you haven’t already heard of them, they consist of Jack White of the White Stripes on guitar and vocals, indie rocker Brendan Benson on backup vocals, bassist Jack Lawrence, and drummer Patrick Keeler.
Together, the four musicians have fused a sound that mixes raunchy blues rock, folky ballads, and the emotional vulnerability of an indie song, and it shines perfectly in their 2006 debut album, “Broken Boy Soldiers.”
As soon as the album opens with the single “Steady As She Goes”, I figured this would be an experience I could appreciate, since it’s almost like hearing a White Stripes song upgraded from the minimalist approach to a full band sound. But if you’re worried you got sucked into a generic power-chord production, listen again.
The band actually takes their time with some bluesy meandering, interspersed with crunchy guitar licks and an anthemic chorus. Though not incredibly original, it’s catchy and entertaining, and the lyrics about life and love actually succeed by being insightful, rather than pretentious.
My hands-down favorite of the album is the title track, which shifts to a new sound following the controlled chaos of “Hands.”
The opening sounds very much like a gang of pirates jumping off their ship to rape and pillage, and it’s an infectious sound with a marching rhythm and a muddy bass, followed by Jack White wailing his heart out about being “child and man and child again, the toy broken boy soldier.”
After this, we get an anxious, ominous buildup to “Intimate Secretary,” which surprises us after about a minute by turning into a bouncy pop-rock number. However, you probably won’t hear this on the radio, because the lyrics seem to be abstract lines of poetry thrown together at random, and the end result shows the band having a lot of fun.
“Together” is a delightfully quaint and low-key ballad, with great harmonizing between White and Benson, along with lyrics that offer both wisdom and naïve puppy love.
The next rocker of the album is “Store Bought Bones”, which brings a taste of urgency to the table that is bombastic and refreshing. “Yellow Sun” is a definite throwback that conjures images of 1960s folk music and small-town America. This continues into “Call It a Day”, which echoes the Beatles in both the backup harmonies and lyrics that embody the weariness of a failing relationship.
Though this would have been a great closer for the album, we are treated to a bit of backmasked weirdness when “Blue Veins” opens, followed by a slow groove with lots of reverb and a brilliant, expressive Jack White.
One thing the listener should consider is that this album is not especially progressive or groundbreaking. It uses traditional pentatonic scales most of the time to capture a heavy blues vibe, but the raw energy and willingness to ascend to new heights in a 33-minute timeframe is invigorating and cathartic.