“Consolers Of The Lonely” – The Raconteurs

Rating: 9/10

With their sophomore album, The Raconteurs’ narrative lyrics and attention-demanding instrumentals resolutely refuse to let “Consolers Of The Lonely” become background music. The first track plays like a thesis, repeating in the chorus, “I’m bored to tears.” Everything that follows delivers the remedy.

The album’s diversity is one half of the pincher maneuver attack that keeps listeners’ ears peeled. Distinctive features like the fiddles in “Old Enough,” and whatever-is-making-that-clackety-clack noise in “Top Yourself” ward off tediousness.

That’s not to say there aren’t some less-riveting songs. Fortunately, they’re sandwiched between the licks that deliver.

The second part of the two-pronged assault is the story-telling style of the lyrics. “The Switch and the Spur” combines a blaring trumpet and low, stinging piano chords with a western tale of “an Appaloosa and a wanted man sprung from jail.” The song swells into a harmonious, chanting mantra of the kind of lyrical artistry you’d expect from a band called The Raconteurs; these boys know how to spin a yarn.

Beside the attention-demanding element of the album, Jack White’s presence is much more collaborative with The Raconteurs: he shares the stage with guitarist/vocalist Brendan Benson.

While White’s ripping guitars and blues-y influences are present throughout “Consolers,” Benson’s lyrics take the cake on some songs.

Most prominently in the song “Many Shades of Black,” Benson shows how much better a balladeer he is than White. He also nails the narrative in “The Switch and the Spur.” This is a refreshing change from The Raconteurs’s debut album, “Broken Boy Soldiers.”

All in all, White’s ability to play well with others in The Raconteurs makes the band a valuable addition to music libraries of White Stripes fans.