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Rating: Jack White here, Jack White there, albums and tours with the White Stripes, duet with the Rolling Mummies in Shine a Light, appearing on countless records as a collaborator, and he manages to have a side project. Only Mark Lanegan, Mike Patton, and Dave Grohl probably manage to be this hyperactive in the music scene.
And so, here we are with the second album from these Raconteurs, the follow-up to the successful "Broken Boy Soldiers". No advertising campaign, no interviews for fear of critics listening to the album in advance.
The main differences from the past are greater cohesion as a group, a slightly rawer sound more inspired than the debut, and the perception that White has become the deus ex machina of the project.
"Consolers of the Lonely" seems like the perfect mix between the fairly traditional pop-rock of "Broken Boy Soldiers" and the blues-soaked sonic cauldron of "Icky Thump".
Was all this necessary? Absolutely yes. First of all, because it never falls into banality or self-referentiality, and secondly for the excellent chemistry developed from the meeting of White and Benson's voices (in many cases it seems like a single voice) and the excellent rhythm section of the remaining Greenhornes.
The track that titles the album leads the way: after a false start, we find ourselves facing a very energetic rock piece with sudden electric bursts that bring to mind some stoner passages and unhidden references to early Blue Cheer; "Salute Your Solution" is a very fast-paced garage track; "You Don't Understand Me" and "Old Enough" are stepchildren of the debut; "The Switch and the Spur" has Kinks reminiscences and a mariachi background (which we will find later in the album, more precisely in the soul of "Many Shades of Black" and the garage punk of "Five on the Five"); "Hold Up" is a pop-punk track that introduces the Zep-Stones blues of "Top Yourself".
The finale, entrusted to "These Stones Will Shout" (mindful of the Page/Plant lesson) and "Carolina Drama", rediscovers the folk roots that have always accompanied the big guy from Detroit.
Labeling it as a nostalgic album of some '70s sounds is reductive. The attention to certain details like some changes, sounds, and various ideas chronologically outside the current time frame place this album a cut above the generic releases of these recent years.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
09 Five on the Five (03:33)
It's a decision that was made between you and me
And the division that was lately this odyssey, believe me
I'm bad enough and I guess we're doing fine
But I'm scared of something more that is on the line
Well I got five on the five
And I been taking time, doing it all along
Oh-oh, Oh-oh-oh
If we keep it alive
I'll ignore all the signs and keep driving home
Right back to you, yeah
Right back to you, yeah
Well, I love you well enough that I'll have you know
The day I found you, girl, you laughed like a stereo
Now tell me why you always wanna put on a show
Cause you look nothing like the kids in the videos
Well I got five on the five
And I been taking time, doing it all along
Oh-oh, Oh-oh-oh
If we keep it alive
I'll ignore all the signs and keep driving home
Ah yeah
Well I love you well enough that I'll have you know
The day you found me, girl, my laugh made a stereo
Now tell me why you always think I put on a show
Cause I look nothing like the kids
Yeah, I look nothing like the kids
Yeah, I look nothing like the kids in the videos
Well I got five on the five
And I been taking time, doing it all along
Oh-oh, Oh-oh-oh
If we keep it alive
I'll ignore all the signs and keep driving home
Yeah, I got five on the five
And I been taking time, doing it all along
Oh-oh, Oh-oh-oh
If we keep it alive
I'll ignore all the signs and keep driving home
Ah, yeah
All right!
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