Friday, June 9

Jack White's Raconteurs disappoint

I just saw the Raconteurs—the new band of Mr. White Stripes, Jack White—in a free show at Amoeba music and left in the middle of it.

The music was vanilla alternative rock, spiced only occassionally with a catchy but repetitive organ melody. They lacked everything that made the White Stripes special: stripped-down rawness, loose playing and off-key singing, and tight, terse songs with simple structure, and gimmicky yet authentically worn coordinated costumes of red and white shirts and jeans.

In contrast, the Raconteurs' five members—with keyboard, drums, and three guitarists, including a lead singer and Jack White on backup vocals that overpowered the lead—served up songs like long-dead beached whales: bloated, bleached and stale.

They do have a kick-ass website, though. It simulates an early 80s computer, with green text on a black field, and somehow programmed with Flash or something so you can navigate mouselessly, with single presses of keys on the keyboard.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home