The Raconteurs are early on to this, which could be one of the emerging trends of 2006: the rebirth of rock in indie music. I think it was after a Wolfmother concert that my friend Alan and I realised again how appealing straight-out, no-pretensions rock can be. You know, the kind of band that dedicates every song in their set to “the ladies” (as Eagles of Death Metal did opening for the Strokes in New York). In the face of a fierce, fierce riff, who needs irony or 1980s dance beats?
As far as indie rock goes, the Raconteurs count as something of a supergroup, I reckon: Brendan Benson from Brendan Benson on guitars/vocals/keys; Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler from the Greenhornes on bass and drums; and Jack White from, yeah, the White Stripes filling the same duties (different times) as Benson. The story of their formation goes something like this: friends Benson and White wrote this tune that Benson thought was too good to give to White for the White Stripes’ Get Behind Me Satan. The song led to the formation of a band, which released an album. The record is Broken Boy Soldiers, the Raconteurs’ blog-hyped debut.