Broken Boy Soldiers

As made clear by the White Stripes, the COLD MOUNTAIN soundtrack, and his lauded album with Loretta Lynn (VAN LEAR ROSE), Jack White approaches all of his music with full commitment, and the Raconteurs is no exception. Not quite a supergroup and much more than a side-project, the band also features fellow Michigan alternative-rock luminary Brendan Benson--who shares vocal, guitar, and keyboard duties with White--and Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, the formidable rhythm section of Toledo, Ohio's the Greenhornes, who played with White on the aforementioned Lynn record. Not as raucous or eccentric as the White Stripes' material, yet notably edgier than Benson's pop-savvy outings, BROKEN BOY SOLDIERS offers an excellent fusion of the two singer/songwriters' sensibilities. The mix is made even more cohesive by the disc's clear 1960/'70s vibe, which is best revealed on the opening single "Steady, As She Goes," a track that recalls both the Kinks and Led Zeppelin, while never falling into mere pastiche. Although White is unmistakably the strongest presence on the album, especially with his bursts of six-string fury, the more mild-mannered Benson gets a turn in the spotlight, most notably on the laid-back Beatlesque tune "Together." A collaboration that lives up to, and often exceeds, expectations, the Raconteurs allows White and Benson to enhance, rather than dilute, their considerable talents.