Broken Boy Soldiers by The Raconteurs

10 Songs, 33 Minutes

EDITORS’ NOTES

The Raconteurs are a collaboration between The White Stripes' Jack White and pop songwriter Brendan Benson, with The Greenhornes' rhythm section keeping things together on the back end. Though it's fair to call them a side project (the album was recorded at Benson's studio whenever time came free) or even a supergroup, the resulting album is anything but an easily dismissed toss-off, though much of its charm rests in its unfussy naturalness. Credit Jack White's voluminous knowledge and affection for rock history and Benson's penchant for the touchstones of pop craft, but Broken Boy Soldiers is an exciting modern update of four decades’ worth of rock music. Most importantly, the songwriting for this project is predominately first-rate. Whether it's the sublime psychedelia of "Intimate Secretary," the title track’s punk rock–meets–Led Zeppelin screech, or the early-'70s electric piano/AM radio ballad "Together," The Raconteurs deliver each style with as much love, conviction, and sense of identity as any "real" band.

EDITORS’ NOTES

	TITLE		TIME
	Steady As She Goes		3:35
	Hands		4:01
	Broken Boy Soldier		3:02
	Intimate Secretary		3:30
	Together		3:58
	Level		2:21
	Store Bought Bones		2:25
	Yellow Sun		3:20
	Call It a Day		3:36
	Blue Veins		3:54

About The Raconteurs

A self-described "new band made up of old friends," the Raconteurs feature the White Stripes' Jack White and power pop maestro Brendan Benson on vocals, keyboards, and guitars, and the Greenhornes' drummer Patrick Keeler and bassist Jack Lawrence as the group's rhythm section. The idea for the band began when Benson and White collaborated on the song "Steady, as She Goes," which later became the Raconteurs' debut single. When the duo drafted Keeler and Lawrence, they became a full-fledged band. Recording together at Benson's East Grand Studio whenever they were available from their other projects, the Raconteurs recorded their debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, over the span of a year and released it in spring 2006 to middling reviews but a Top Ten place on Billboard's album charts. That year, the band also relocated to Nashville and worked on another batch of songs in between touring and dates at festivals such as Lollapalooza. In 2008, they released the single, "Old Enough" b/w " Top Yourself," on Third Man as a joint production with Warner Brothers. ~ Heather Phares