The Raconteurs

Broken Boy Soldiers - (V2)

Really, this isn’t the side project that I, for one, hoped Jack White might explore outside of the White Stripes.

What I was hoping for was White taking his time with Loretta Lynn and in Cold Mountain a step further and going the country-roots-route. I guess his heart’s in power-pop as well, and he clearly had a yen to be "one of the guys" in a full-blown band - here collaborating right down the middle (songwriting, singing, production, etc.) with Brendan Benson. The end result is a polite "solid", but not much more than that.

Hardly present at all here is the personality of a White Stripes. While the drumming here may be more proficient than our dear Meg (and, hey, there’s a bass guitar throughout!), the end result is far too familiar with the only standout parts coming from White himself. This doesn’t mean that the best tracks here are the one’s White sings necessarily - just that his wail on "Broken Boy Soldier" and raucous guitar throughout can’t help but bring a smile.

This doesn’t lend itself to the question, "Well, can he actually collaborate with anyone?" because we’ve seen that he can hang back and support the likes of a Loretta Lynn with great success. It does in fact sound like the band is "together", even on mediocre ballads like "Together" or "Store Bought Bones" with it’s not so subtle prog-rock leanings, but things are held back by a lack of an adventurous spirit (although "Yellow Sun" pretty much nails it as an exception to the rule). I mean, we’ve heard all of this before.

This could be the point - a celebration of a straight-forward no-frills brand of rock and roll. Unfortunately that doesn’t translate into repeated listening down the road.

6.0