The beauty of The Raconteurs is in the timeless joy of hearing two world-class songwriters, cut from two very different sides of a similar cloth, come together to make something if not greater, then at least as good as the sum of their considerable parts.
Help Us Stranger is another compelling exhibit in the band’s continuing quest to prove that there’s still more to be mined from the supposedly anachronistic guitar-rock template.
Without losing the folky, rockabilly vibes of a classic Raconteurs album, the band has pushed its limits and more than succeeded.
This is music that sounds as fun to make as it is to listen to.
There’s no shortage of invention and genre mashes to prick up the ears here.
Purely and simply the sound of a group of musicians having the absolute time of their lives.
White and Benson aren't trying to reinvent rock'n'roll, they're just bashing out some catchy tunes, and it's a blast to listen in on these old friends reconnecting.
The ease with which they fall into these songs, picking up where they left off on 2008’s Consolers Of The Lonely, shows the four piece has a connection that may transcend the music.
Help Us Stranger and Let’s Rock are simply great records from very different bands coming from the same ideals: Rock is a living thing, and guitars can be your best friends in the war on jive.
Albums like Help Us Stranger – which are infused with an almost effortless range – remind us that this is a band with a multitude of gifts. Not dead yet, indeed.
Despite this contemporary flair, what keeps Help Us Stranger lively is how the Raconteurs blend and mix barbed pop and blues skronk so their classicism seems fresh, not stale.
The supergroup return with a smooth and bluesy ride to provide a very analogue album for a digital world.
There’s nothing new under the sun or on this record, but when the riffs are crisp and the harmonies tight, that’s a complaint that’s at least a couple of spots down the list.
The Raconteurs’ third album may not reach the heights of Consolers of the Lonely, and with its dedication to no-frills, FM rock ‘n roll, it already sounds slightly dated, but it’s the purest, most fun music either White or Benson have put out in over a decade.
A fun romp through the most succinct Jack White material in a decade, a collection of songs that will thrill crowds across the world until White moves on to whatever his next project is.
As fun as all this let-the-good-times-roll hardened power pop is, it couldn’t have been more fun than making it.
They do what they do very well at points on Help Us Stranger, you just get the feeling they could have taken their time and shed some of the filler.
Whereas Consolers moved as a perfect, smooth mass, Help Us Stranger is a bumpy ride over plenty of flat terrain.
At its best, Help Us Stranger feels like a sandbox album—a convincing argument that all the tropes you can still hear on your local classic rock station remain endlessly malleable, open to interpretation and reappraisal with each new generation.
There are few surprises on Help Us Stranger, but that tends to be the case when you’re in the hands of capable adults.
They’re not back to reinvent the wheel - but they do remind us that old school rock and roll is at its best when it doesn’t try and take itself dead serious.
We’ve seen that White is capable of inflicting more compelling strangeness than we get here. Hearing him just make a rock record feels like a step backwards.
The energy and exhilaration of the collaborative process might be palpable, but in its weaker moments Help Us Stranger sounds like the worst kind of compromise – cluttered, ill-defined and lacking the clarity of vision that once charged its driving forces.
Bombastic production isn't enough to save Help Us Stranger's often shabby songwriting.
So in 2019 when this came out, I remember listening to it and loving it a ton because I was really into Jack White when it came out. Soon after, saw that they were coming to my area and I got some friends and we went. It was a crazy concert, and it was a really great night. I was sort of close to the front, so Jack White was looming over us shredding the shit out of his guitar. They sounded fantastic, and they are all extremely talented. I’ve been to many concerts, but that one was ... read more
Rock supergroup, The Raconteurs make a decently respectable return to form on “Help us Stranger”
This will probably be on rock radio for the foreseeable future
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: Jack White Tries to Bring Back Blues Attempt #15!
The Raconteurs are a group I have for some strange reason avoided in my Jack White-stanning life. Not for any malicious reason, mostly just because I haven't found the time. I've heard great stuff about the groups debut Broken Boy Soldiers, and have heard that Consolers of The Lonely aint too shabby either. But for some reason, while i'm a massive fan of Jack Whites other projects, this is a weirdly ... read more
7/10
good
Fav tracks: Bored and Razed, Shine The Light On Me, Hey Gyp, Sunday Driver, Live A Lie
Favourites: Bored And Razed, Help Me Stranger, Hey Gyp, Sunday Driver, Now That You're Gone, Live A Lie and What's Yours Is Mine.
1 | Bored and Razed 3:35 | 81 |
2 | Help Me Stranger 3:36 | 79 |
3 | Only Child 3:41 | 86 |
4 | Don't Bother Me 2:53 | 76 |
5 | Shine the Light on Me 3:27 | 76 |
6 | Somedays (I Don’t Feel Like Trying) 4:06 | 78 |
7 | Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness) 2:25 | 79 |
8 | Sunday Driver 3:38 | 88 |
9 | Now That You're Gone 4:00 | 82 |
10 | Live a Lie 2:20 | 74 |
11 | What's Yours is Mine 2:49 | 74 |
12 | Thoughts and Prayers 4:42 | 81 |
#8 | / | Yahoo Entertainment |
#17 | / | Slant Magazine |
#26 | / | MOJO |
#33 | / | Uncut |
#40 | / | Billboard |
#45 | / | Classic Rock Magazine |
#54 | / | Les Inrocks |
/ | American Songwriter |