The Raconteurs: Help Us Stranger Review

After a 10-year hiatus, the Jack White-lead garage rock group, The Raconteurs, have finally released a new studio album. Help Us Stranger was a pleasant surprise to long-time fans, and it is as if the band had never left in the first place.

Personally, Help Us Stranger shocked me with just how great it was. When it was announced that The Raconteurs were releasing a new album, all that was in this critic’s head was of Jack White’s last solo release, Boarding House Reach, of which I harbored no positive emotions towards. One of the first singles, “Sunday Driver” restored a bit of my faith in the upcoming album, but I was still skeptical that it would be too experimental and eccentric for my taste. When the time came for the next few singles to be released, I paid zero attention to them and braced myself for the grueling chore of reviewing the complete record.

Despite any previous doubts I had, I walked in feeling optimistic and left with a desire to delve deeper into each of the tracks. Help Us Stranger is an album with high replayability, and one might even say that it gets better the more you listen to it. And unlike the dreaded advice we always hear from TV shows, “it gets good after the first episode,” the first track, “Bored and Razed” doesn’t start us off with anything dull to bare through. It is progressive and raw in sound, reminding the listener that this is Jack White speaking without flagrantly recycling any previously known track. We end off with “Thoughts and Prayers,” a sweet treat to add to the concept of the album, but we maybe could have had a stronger punch to leave with at the end of the tumultuous journey that is Help Us Stranger.

While the album does have its slow points, such as “Somedays” or “Don’t Bother Me” (a song trying to hard to be novel and aggressive), the combination of ballad-type songs with the others (i.e: “Only Child,” “Thoughts and Prayers,” “Shine the Light on Me”) complements the record and the ideas in the lyrics, and some of the slower tracks might even be more enjoyable than the others.

A prime example of this would certainly be “Now That You’re Gone,” a track that switches from a sober, substantial rhythm that may be likened unto a heart to a deceitfully easygoing tone in the chorus. The mood of the song’s progression may be compared with the feelings one might experience before remorse has settled in or nearing the end of the process of grieving after a breakup. The verse lingers like a stone in the stomach, and the chorus sways like the wind, showing promise of a chill yet to come or a calm breeze after the hot summer. Whether taking the perspective from the beginning, the end, or the middle of the journey getting over a breakup, “Now That You’re Gone” adroitly emulates the experience without overwhelming the listener with the self-pity expressed in the lyrics.

Other tracks offer interesting zests to the final product, including the mouth organ in “Hey Gyp” and the glitching track at the beginning of “Help Me Stranger.” “Sunday Driver” brings us back to the good old days of pure rock and roll with its meaty guitar licks and growling melodies. And of course, it wouldn’t be a Jack White album without its screamingly pleasing guitar licks and techniques across the board, even when some of the songs may fall short of praise lyrically.

Despite losing steam at the conclusion of the record, Help Us Stranger speaks as a solid comeback for The Raconteurs. There has been a slight alteration in sound, as the album is more electric as a whole compared to their previous acoustic-centered vibes such as “Top Yourself” or “Carolina Drama.” However, its thrilling, raw style leaves listeners craving more, and one may hope that we need not wait another decade before the next record’s release.

Overall Rating: 7.9/10