CD Review

Calling the Raconteurs a supergroup is about as wise as saying the New Pornographers are one too. Take a bunch of musician’s from their city’s respective creative scene and you’ve got something even VH1 can’t summon with a reality show – a new band made up of old friends.

This new band of familiar faces finds Jack White of the White Stripes mingling with Detroit buddy Brendan Benson and the rhythm section of Motor City garage rockers the Greenhornes. But more than Jack White and friends, the Raconteurs seems to be a coming out party for Benson, as White deflates himself to a sideman. Is Jack dumping Meg for Brendan?

White and Benson share the songwriting duties, but White’s unmistakable garage blues chord fury is stapled throughout. The lead single, “Steady as Shoe Goes” is interesting enough, but the title track meanders in the psychedelic primal scream of earlier White Stripes records, which in fact we’ve heard just about enough of recently.

The albums’ strongest moment are Benson’s “Hands” and “Together,” a pure 70’s rock gem, followed by a heartfelt folk-pop single that showcases that the Raconteurs are far from rehashing pure garage rock flames. Though clocking in at a little over a half hour along ten songs, you just expect more from a Jack White band. Broken Boy Soldiers fails to deliver any type of kick-start to the ears, or heart for that matter.