The Raconteurs

Nothing personal, Meg, but working with new playmates has set Jack White free. "I'm through ripping myself off," he screeches on the title track. If you didn't catch that, he repeats, "I'm done ripping myself off." From the lighthearted ease that oozes from every track, it's obvious to glean that White has finally found the perfect foil for his musical talents in Detroit-bred singer-songwriter Brendan Benson, and the rhythm section of the Greenhornes, Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence. In effortless psychedelic metal-pop gems like "Hands" and "Steady, as She Goes," White shows that with the weight of fronting the White Stripes off his back, he need not be first among equals. While the Raconteurs may not have broken any new ground with their first album, they have managed to concoct a tasty brew of crunchy electric guitar power chords, bringing to mind the mid-'60s Yardbirds lineup that briefly featured Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, and the ballsy swagger of fellow son of Detroit, Ted Nugent. For good measure, they even throw in a few sunshiny acoustic ballads like "Together" and "Yellow Sun." Hopefully, this too-short album (barely clocking in at over 30 minutes), isn't just a one-off sideline, but a signal of things to come.