The hype machine will be working in overdrive with the arrival of new recorded material from Jack White and Brendan Benson project The Raconteurs. Already they’ve had supermodels and various other celebs gyrating stageside in London and with the expectation surrounding the band people have been ready to praise them into the skies or slag them into the ground. Which brings us to this offering – where does it fall? Utterly amazing, world-beating, ground-breaking stuff showing the might of the combined minds of musical geniuses or self indulgent dross from the praise-crazed minds of indie-egomaniacs?
Well, unfortunately it’s neither. If we’re honest, it’s distinctly average – harmless enough, inoffensive and very very ordinary.
There’s a garagey (I don’t really know what that’s supposed to mean either) bass start, then into that 4 chord pattern and rhythm that pissed frumps seem to think they can dance seductively to as they wobble over waving a finger, cocking a boss eye and hitching up a worryingly low flying boob. Beware when you hear its arrival in your local indie disco, where if the frumps don’t attack I’m sure it would sound very good.
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Being from who it’s from I feel that I should have strong feelings about this track, I should be sharpening the claws or weeping with joy, but it just doesn’t ever stray from “Average Faceless Indie Band” on my amazing music reviewing barometer. It’s a little too polished, a bit like a filled out White Stripes which I suppose is to be expected, with a jump up and down chorus and no surprises.
Over on the other side, “Store bought bones” is a different bucket of molasses altogether – a 70s drenched prog/metal wig out in the vein of Lynyrd Skynyrd or Deep Purple, wearing its red plaid and sleeveless denim proudly round the barbecue pit. Much better for shaking the old mullet too.
Saying all that “Steady as she goes” is a bit of a grower and it’s already got an extra star or two over the last week, but still nothing to write home about just yet.
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