The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely

Aaaah, The Raconteurs. Their debut album release in 2006 called Broken Boy Soldiers wasn't too shabby. Songs like Steady As She Goes, Store Bought Bones and Hands rocked hard but had an air of pop sensibilities, similar in a sense to the work of Brendan Benson. The one main criticism I had with it though was that it was far, far too short (just over half an hour) and all the fun was over in a flash. So I had high hopes for a second album, hoping that the band would learn from mistakes in the past.

Since listening to it, I've learnt two key things.

The first thing, and the key reason that stops me from liking this album a lot, is the length, YET AGAIN. This album is 55 minutes long. There are about three or four songs on this album that just do not belong on here. Songs like Attention and Carolina Drama just sound so boring and uninteresting. This kind of thing makes the album more of a frustrating listen than Broken Boy Soldiers. You're ultimately left thinking, at the end of the album, that this could have been over 15 minutes or so ago and would feel far more satisfied for it.

The second thing is how much of a Jack White album this feels. There are several tracks on it that spell out his influence quite clearly, from some of the riffing on tracks like Salute Your Solution, the piano tinkling on tracks like You Don't Understand Me and Pull This Blanket Off, the trumpets from last White Stripes album Icky Thump on tracks like The Switch And The Spur...the list is endless.

There are, despite my grumblings, some pretty darn good, rockin' tracks on this album. Salute Your Solution is an ideal choice for a first single and is easily the most direct song on Consolers Of The Lonely. Five On The Five, Many Shades Of Black and the title track, Consoler Of The Lonely, are all also notable highlights. The Switch And The Spur is the true highlight though, with its absolutely brilliant and dramatic arrangements and it is probably as close as The Raconteurs get to something epic-sounding.

So, overall, there are some good songs on here, but they are all pretty much overshadowed by the issues I have with Consolers Of The Lonely. The fact that The Raconteurs can't seem to make an album of decent length makes them turn from a band with the potential to make something really awesome into a band that frustrates my musical ears.

What's even more worrying, potentially, is that I still feel that they haven't made an album that doesn't feel like more of a side-project for Mr Benson and Mr White. Consolers Of The Lonely does feel like at points the wealth of leftover material from Jack's short-lived Icky Thump phase of his White Stripes time.

It's not necessarily a disaster, just a bit of a disappointment.

RATING: 6/10

The Raconteurs

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