The Raconteurs spin tales with Comforters of the Lonely

With the release of their sophomore album Comforters of the Lonely, the Raconteurs should finally be able to shake the nagging description reviewers have bestowed upon them as “Jack White’s side-project” and be recognized as the great band they are.

The new album shows the band to have progressed considerably since their 2006 debut Broken Boy Soldiers. That album seemed to be the child of Brendan Benson, the other guitarist/vocalist/songwriter in the Raconteurs. Comforters of the Lonely is more of an even mesh of Benson’s sugary guitar melodies and White’s shredded blues.

On their first album, it sounded like White was consciously trying to remain in the background—as if that was possible. In the new album, his creative input is clearly expressed.

Take the title track, the album’s opener.

Beginning with some fine guitar twang from White, the spotlight moves to Benson’s even vocals, then a surprise jump back to White for a couple of the wildest vocals Jack has ever laid down in the studio. In the first minute of the album, you get the essence of the two front-men. What follows is an exercise in intertwined artistry, and for much of the album it’s difficult to distinguish if the vocals belong to White or Benson.

The instrumentation of Comforters of the Lonely is like Broken Boy Soldiers on steroids with an extra pinch of blues and a dose of horns, provided by The Memphis Horns.

The title track is perfect for this alum—you’d be cheating your ears to miss this one. “Old Enough” is a groovy tune about either the knowledge gained by living or jailbait, featuring—gasp!—fiddle and organ, that should be welcome at Bonnaroo this summer.

“Many Shades of Black” is Benson’s standout track. It has a chord pattern and melody that was probably big in the 1950s, but it is delivered with just enough edginess to save it from corniness without marring the sentiment.

White’s murder-ballad, “Carolina Drama,” sounds like what you would come up with if you hummed Bob Dylan’s “One More Cup of Coffee” while listening to a confused drunk recount the plot of Sling Blade and put it all together with Reba McEntire’s “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.” The ending is as disturbing: a man is killed by a bottle of milk. “Pull this Blanket Off” takes a nod from some of the slower songs on The White Stripes’ Get Behind Me Satan (2005).

The best track on the album is “The Switch and the Spur,” the story of a wanted man and an appaloosa. The horns are like “Conquest” (from White’s Icky Thump album) taken to another level. The middle section is priceless: the rhythm guitars and the horns build to a crescendo, and Jack gets all incendiary with the lead guitar. What happens next is almost a miracle—the Raconteurs combine their voices with the grungy guitar/horn backing, and deliver the best lines of mock-epic poetry since Lord Byron:

“Any poor souls who trespass against us

Whether it be beast or man

Will suffer the bite or be stung dead on sight

By those who inhabit this land.

For theirs is the power and this is their kingdom

As sure as the sun does burn

So enter this path but heed these four words:

You shall never return.”

That is the absolute greatest thing I’ve ever heard—since Icky Thump, at least.