Get Your Fix: Album Reviews by the CoolJunkie Staff

April 9, 2008 9:51 PM
by chipi [email]

The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
by: Marcos Colon

When it came to the release of their highly anticipated second album, Consolers of the Lonely, The Raconteurs decided to take a different turn from what the norm is in that situation by releasing it a week before it was originally planned to. The switch probably raised cheers from fans, but boos from print media, seeing as they wouldn’t be able to release their reviews in a timely manner. Good thing for you all is that this isn’t an issue for publications on the net. With this second effort, Jack White and Brandon Benson’s gang return with the same Southern infused gritty and bluesy guitar riffs and catchy anecdotes found on their first album, Broken Boy Soldiers. Consolers of the Lonely has everything that you’d expect out of a Raconteurs album, heavy guitars, crammed arrangements and definitely a touch of White Stripes as White’s expansive yet whiny banter takes a lead on the majority of the 14 tracks. What makes this album an overall success, is the way that the poppy hooks on the tracks are hidden by the swagger found in their fire and brimstone sound. Make it a must to go out and pick up Consolers of the Lonely this week.

Rashan Ahmad - The Push
by: Marcos Colon

What do you get when you mix a flurry of well-constructed rhymes and blasts of deep hip hop beats? Simple. Raashad Ahmad’s soon to be released The Push. Packed with clever lyrics describing struggles, achievements and love, Ahmad approaches his first effort with old-school precision that isn’t used by the majority of hip hop acts around currently. On tracks like Fight, Ahmad conjures the old-school B-Boy rhythms as he rhymes along to beats that’ll make anyone take out their linoleum mats, lace up their shell toed Adidas and bust a few windmills. On other tracks like Cancer, Ahmad takes more a serious tone as he describes the struggle and loss of his mother to cancer, ‘Me and my brother had to decide to let our mom go.’
Where the album lacks most is in its consistency. Many of the tracks flow well together, but the production seems a bit random at times and jumps around from sampling funky horn sections on If I, to pretty much ripping the entire beat and hook off of The Zuton’s Pressure Point. The Push won’t catapult Raashan Ahmad into superstardom, but it will get his name out there for the meantime.

The Black Keys - Attack & Release
by: chipi
This blues-rock duo have been picking up speed since School of Rock catapulted them from Akron, Ohio to every lo-fi lovers turntable. Their single Strange Times picks up where Girl is on My Mind left off with an energetic kick and highly dance-able feel bound for indie dance floors everywhere.

Attack & Release is a well orchestrated departure from their garage band style roots and with Danger Mouse at the helm as producer mainstream appeal has been turned up a few notches. That being said, Attack holds tight to the riff, thrash and ambient experimentation that made them of interest in the first place and recalls late 60's Fleetwood Mac and contemporaries like The Raconteurs and The White Stripes.