There are reports of a perilously close call involving Detroit music fans and their hometown darlings, The White Stripes. According to similar stories on both New Music Express and Pitchfork, the crowd attending the Raconteurs show at the Fillmore in Detroit Sunday night chanted “more, more,” trying to coax the band back up onstage for an encore. What they got instead was Meg and Jack White taking up their familiar positions in what at first appeared to be a shocking reunion of the two-piece band who have not played out since Ms. White recused herself from their fall 2007 tour in order to seek treatment for acute anxiety.
With Jack on guitar and Meg seated at the drum kit the crowd trembled in fixated anticipation as Meg lifted her sticks to hit the drums that could have set off a Beatles-level fan frenzy circa-Shea Stadium. But, alas, ‘twas but a cruel tease, as the coquettish skin pounder was apparently taking it a step at a time on her road to recovery and this was but one tiny segment in what might be a long journey back to full blown world-domination touring. Ms. White apparently only “tapped” at a couple of drum heads and then moved aside as the Raconteurs re-took the stage to perform encores.
No word yet as to whether she will be available for extended drum solos on selected Ozzfest dates later this summer.
Straight from the studio to your ears, the follow-up to the Raconteurs‘ acclaimed 2006 debut, Broken Boy Soldiers was released March 25th with as little warning as a well-executed ambush. Taking their chances and forgoing the customary industry ‘hype period,’ the band opted to release their latest project directly to their fans before their expectations could be insidiously manipulated by the opinionated media. So, if you’re reading this and have not yet heard the album, I regret to inform you that you’re too late; we’ve caught up. Fortunately, unlike certain B-movies, Consolers of the Lonely is not attempting to con the public into copping a sub-par performance by cutting out the critical review. No, rather than a nasty ambush, this hits more like surprise birthday party; with all your best friends in your favorite park on a beautiful sunny day, with free-flowing beverages, and, of course, great music.
And what else would one honestly expect with the incredible depth of talent in a band that includes Jack White (of the White Stripes), Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence (of the Greenhornes and Blance) and Patrick Keeler (of the Greenhornes)? On Consolers the studio polish is cut with just enough muddled banter and fuzzy overdrive to give the whole project a warmly casual jam-session feel that gives each of the musicians their moments to shine. Tracks like “Salute Your Solution” and “Five on Five” hit with a recognizably Stripesian swagger that is tempered by the fuller sound of the band, and are balanced with the piano and bass driven “You Don’t Understand Me” and acoustic guitar and western fiddle-work on “Old Enough.” Influences and instrumentations range further afield than their debut with hints of country and Icky Thump-esque horns adding to their already deep instrumental repertoire. White and Benson exchange vocal duties throughout, coming together at points in harmonies that sound so effortless it becomes a stretch to think of this band as a mere “side-project.” For the most part, however, they alternate on songs, and together with the impressive range of musical styles, they leave the album feeling a bit thematically and musically disjointed. The group shines brightest when they stick to their namesake on the bluesy rock ballads “The Switch and the Spur” and, my personal favorite, the closer “Carolina Drama.” Ultimately, however disjointed, this is a superstar jam-session that’s as convincing a rock-sure-as-hell-isn’t-dead argument as you’ve heard in a while. But then, you’ve probably already heard it.