Didn't think we'd see a follow-up Raconteurs record so quickly following The White Stripes' 2007 return to greatness with Icky Thump yet here it is. Anxiety issues on Meg White's behalf curbed The White Stripes' entire world tour last year and what's a workaholic like Jack White supposed to do, go on sabbatical? Not bloody likely. Pulling Brendan Benson and the boys from The Greenhornes back in for round two, Consolers of the Lonely certainly ends the speculation that The Raconteurs were just a one off. By the sounds of this album, it feels like White and company are trying, if anything, to audition to become one of the biggest Rock bands in the world.

Where Broken Boy Soldiers sounded like a bunch of rag tag buddies feeling each other out like professional boxers in a prizefight, Consolers of the Lonely plays like a barrage of left hooks and uppercuts to the ears. Loud, slick and aggressive with solos around every turn, Benson and White are turned up to eleven on each of these 14 tracks. On the two openers, the self-titled track and the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club aping "Salute Your Solution," Benson and White trade verses with the tenacity of Tasmanian devils. When they tone it down a touch though I find these guys to be better suited, such as the Benson led Country romp of "Old Enough" and another Benson tune that's centered around a team of horn players on the superb "Many Shades of Black." It's strange that even though White has plenty to sing here too, his songs just aren't nearly as interesting as the songs that he sang on the previous Raconteurs or White Stripes records. The only song that even perked my interest on White's end is the closing "Carolina Drama" which sounds like it could have come right off of Bob Dylan's Desire album. While Consolers of the Lonely is a genial release that was obviously made with the intention to blow everyone's socks off, I must say there really isn't much here that stands out as memorable. Pleasant enough? Certainly. Will I have a hankering to go back and listen to it in a few years however? Not likely.