Raconteurs

Anybody who has followed Jack White's online screeds and offstage brawls knows that the White Stripes' mastermind can tend to get a little, well, defensive when he's challenged (and sometimes even when he's not), but this trait hasn't always surfaced on record – at least not in the way he and his merry band of Raconteurs do on their second album, Consolers of the Lonely. At the very least, this bubbling blend of bizarro blues, rustic progressive rock, fractured pop, and bludgeoning guitars is a finger in the eye to anyone who dared call the band a mere power pop trifle, proof that the Raconteurs are a rock & roll band, but it's not just the sound of the record that's defiant. There's the very nature of the album's release: how it was announced to the world a week before its release when it then appeared in all formats in all retail outfits simultaneously; there's the obstinately olde-fashioned look of the art work, how the group is decked out like minstrels at a turn-of-the century carnival, or at least out of Dylan's Masked and Anonymous.

Smothered by the indulgence of his rock star ranking, Jack White steps into the eccentricities of the supergroup, and at first glance, this seems to be a band where White's imposing presence could overshadow the rest. Not the case with these Raconteurs. Teaming with fellow Detroit songwriter Brendan Benson and Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, the rhythm section from Cincinnati band the Greenhornes, White exhales a bit, deferring enough to his mates to make Broken Boy Soldiers play like a team effort. Following the Benson blueprint, "Steady as She Goes," which opens as a slice of 1960's radio pop, the record steers away from pigeonholing the rest of the way. White's in a Middle Eastern mood for the title track as he pulls off a wicked Robert Plant howl, while Lawrence and Keeler excel on the chorus-strong "Intimate Secretary" and the optimistic acoustic rocker "Yellow Sun." Like so many all-star bands before them, The Raconteurs could be one and done. But don't place the blame on this fertile and genuine debut.

Consolers of the Lonely is the second album of The Raconteurs. It was released on March 25, 2008 on Warner Bros. Records in most parts of the world, and a day earlier on XL Recordings in the UK. The band did no promotion before the album's release, and its existence was only confirmed a week before. Even so, the record was accidentally leaked by iTunes, and some fans managed to purchase the album early. It is available on CD, vinyl, and MP3. A video for the first single from the album, "Salute Your Solution" was released on the same day….

The Raconteurs – Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence, and Patrick Keeler – have announced the release of their long-awaited new album, HELP US STRANGER, which is the GRAMMY® Award-winning rock band’s third studio LP and first new album in more than a decade. Out on Friday, June 21, HELP US STRANGER sees the mighty combo reassembled, stronger and perhaps even more vital than ever before as they continue to push rock 'n' roll forward into its future, bonding prodigious riffs, blues power, sinewy psychedelia, Detroit funk, and Nashville soul via Benson and White’s uncompromising songcraft and the band’s steadfast musical muscle. With HELP US STRANGER, The Raconteurs have returned right when they are needed most, unified and invigorated with boundless ambition, infinite energy and a collectivist spirit operating at the peak of its considerable powers, once again creating a sound and fury only possible when all four of its members come together.

The Raconteurs were formed in 2005 by Jack White of The White Stripes, acclaimed solo artist Brendan Benson and drummer Patrick Keeler and bassist Jack Lawrence from The Greenhornes. Their debut album Broken Boy Soldiers charted at No.2 in the UK and follow up Consolers Of The Lonely went in at No.8. Both albums were also Top 10 in the USA. This performance from Montreux in 2008 was part of the tour in support of their second album. The setlist is split between songs from the two albums with the addition of a cover of the old Charley Jordan track Keep It Clean . This is rough, tough rock n roll with great tunes and even better guitar hooks performed by an outstanding live band.