The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
The Raconteurs are the new group consisting of Jack White of the White Stripes, solo artist Brendan Benson, and two members of the Greenhornes. I slowly became a fan of the White Stripes, feeling each of their albums was stronger than the last, until they finally won me over with Get Behind Me Satan. My main problem with the band was the fact since there's only two members, the band sounds rather minimalist.
The Raconteurs take that sound and flesh it out. The contributions by the other three members give it something special. Their first single from Broken Boy Soldiers is "Steady As She Goes," which in my opinion is probably the weakest song on the album, borrowing its bass line from Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" Still, it's a good song.
"Hands" reminds me of what the Beatles could sound like if they recorded today instead of 40 years ago. The harmonies are reminiscent of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, and even some of the instrumentation seems similar. What really reminds me of the Beatles is the song composition with its use of the bridge.
The title track of the CD is another great song, with its eastern sounding guitar lick. Its followed by the whimsical "Intimate Secretary" where the band sings about a hopping rabbit, a shopping girl, a foot that won't drop, and a shot uncle. It comes across as a Dr. Seuss rhyming exercise, and the music itself sounds otherwordly.
The best song on the CD in my opinion is "Together." It's the slow song of the album, and the guitars are more laid back and subtle than the rest of the album. The organ adds a nice touch, but I really like the call and response of the chorus as they sing "You want everything to be just like (You want everything to be just like) The stories that you read but never write (The stories that you read but never write.)"
"Store Bought Bones" has a good '70s sound to it with its organ, and looping bass line. "Yellow Sun" evokes the Beatles again, this time the White album, with its false starts. The album closes with "Blue Veins" which uses backwards tape loops and speaker effects for the vocals.
The songs I didn't mention are all as good as the ones I did. This is by far the best album I've heard in 2006, and I just can't stop listening to it. My only complaint is at 33 minutes this CD is way too short. I really hope the Raconteurs can take more time out from their respective groups to record more quality music like this.
For further reading:
The Raconteurs' homepage
All Music Guide's Raconteurs entry
Wikipedia's Raconteurs entry
The Raconteurs take that sound and flesh it out. The contributions by the other three members give it something special. Their first single from Broken Boy Soldiers is "Steady As She Goes," which in my opinion is probably the weakest song on the album, borrowing its bass line from Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" Still, it's a good song.
"Hands" reminds me of what the Beatles could sound like if they recorded today instead of 40 years ago. The harmonies are reminiscent of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, and even some of the instrumentation seems similar. What really reminds me of the Beatles is the song composition with its use of the bridge.
The title track of the CD is another great song, with its eastern sounding guitar lick. Its followed by the whimsical "Intimate Secretary" where the band sings about a hopping rabbit, a shopping girl, a foot that won't drop, and a shot uncle. It comes across as a Dr. Seuss rhyming exercise, and the music itself sounds otherwordly.
The best song on the CD in my opinion is "Together." It's the slow song of the album, and the guitars are more laid back and subtle than the rest of the album. The organ adds a nice touch, but I really like the call and response of the chorus as they sing "You want everything to be just like (You want everything to be just like) The stories that you read but never write (The stories that you read but never write.)"
"Store Bought Bones" has a good '70s sound to it with its organ, and looping bass line. "Yellow Sun" evokes the Beatles again, this time the White album, with its false starts. The album closes with "Blue Veins" which uses backwards tape loops and speaker effects for the vocals.
The songs I didn't mention are all as good as the ones I did. This is by far the best album I've heard in 2006, and I just can't stop listening to it. My only complaint is at 33 minutes this CD is way too short. I really hope the Raconteurs can take more time out from their respective groups to record more quality music like this.
For further reading:
The Raconteurs' homepage
All Music Guide's Raconteurs entry
Wikipedia's Raconteurs entry
Labels: Brendan Benson, Greenhornes, Jack White, Raconteurs, White Stripes
posted by Tom at 6:45 PM
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