I sense that perhaps I'm going to be sticking my neck out on this one. It's not often that an obscure, one-off, indie uber-groupe tosses off the best album of ‘any' year. Don't bother racking your drug addled cortex it's never happened. "Best album of the year?" you scoff indignantly, "why there's only 10 songs on this hastily recorded lark of an album?" True I have been huffing Oxyclean a little bit lately, but all personal crises aside, in my opinion the Raconteurs have racked up honors for coolest album of the year – thus far. (You never know when they're going to a slip a Million Dollar Baby out on the 31st of December).

In any case members of the academy I present for your consideration Broken Boy Soldiers, a joyous and varied collection of singalong fun – ideal for the whole family. I say this because on our long sojourn to Yellowstone Natl Park, my family (including my 9 year old daughter Lennon, my 7 year old daughter Zoe and my 18 year old wife Stefani) not only adored the album top to bottom but had that sucker memorized by the time Old Faithful blew it's load.

The opener and first single "Steady As She Goes" starts off like Bossanova era Pixies and then becomes one of the most infectious singalong tunes I've heard for some time. The kids would clamor for it and thus we listened to it 2146 times on the trip and with the exception of the Mrs. no one in the car could get their fill. (The kids have even worked out an accompanying dance number, memorized the words and performed it a number of times for the other members of our party – encores were the rule). One of the greatest fears a father secretly harbors is that his children may turn out to be nerds, needless to say the Bonedaddy was a happy camper.

The Raconteurs started when Jack White and Brendon Benson were goofing off one night and came up with "Steady." Inspired by the tune, they fleshed out a band by recruiting the rhythm section of the Greenhornes (Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler on bass and drums). By hook or crook they managed to record the remaining 9 tracks as opportunity allowed over the next year or so. The result is an eclectic mix of accessible 70's radio pop, rootsy pop and blues that allows all four members ample opportunity to shine. White's guitar work retains his signature reckless brilliance, but it is some of the most restrained work he's ever recorded. Still and all, it is the keyboard fourishes of both Benson and White that give the album much of it's unique charm.

Track 6 "Level" is the most musically challenging, with White's guitar licks blazing the way, often echoed by keyboard and it all builds to a most tasty interplay of lines and themes culminating with some harmonic dual guitar licks that seemed to be a nod to early Steely Dan. With White often letting loose his wicked Robert Plant yowls and falsetto trills, Zepp is an obvious touchstone - no more so than on the closing track, the lovely and haunting bluesy ballad "Blue Veins."

Not only is Broken Boy Soldiers a wonderful showcase for White's fabled chops, but Benson matches him blow for blow with his pleasing, slightly alt/country crooning which brought a touch of Gary Louris Jayhawks as well as a kind of easy New Amsterdams-ish Matt Pryor vibe. Most interesting is the way both vocalists could find common ground by altering their voices to sound very similar. A trick that is particularly effective during the many echoed talk-backs and harmonies. There's definitely not a skip-worthy track in the lot although, overall the album does suffer from less-than-profound lyricism – a problem common to long distance collabs and one-off projects such as this.

I doubt I'm in the minority, when I express the fervent hope that Broken Boy Soldier is only the first in a handful of Raconteur records. Considering that Benson is a one-man-band and White's situation with the Stripes allows more than a measure of flexibility. Obviously another rhythm section could be plugged in, in a pinch, but by no means should this be misinterpreted as a slight to the contributions of Keeler and Lawrence. Both play beautifully throughout and Jack Lawrence's basslines regularly standout as indespensible song-makers. Whatever the case, don't exist another day without this debut offering in your collection. If you're anything like me, (violating parole, tooling down a dirt road with a stolen Ford Taurus full of drunken topless teenage girls snorting coke from their own ample breasts) do yourself a favor, pull over at the nearest retail music establishment and get with it. Steady as she goes might be just the advice you need.