Consolers of the Violent

We play instruments in black-and-white just as well as in technicolor.

Sorry for the long delay, but I've been on the couch watching Halloween movies without my wisdom teeth the past week.  I'm sure everyone reading this was on the edge of their La-z Boy chairs after I teased a Brad Pitt and Jack White connection in this blog.  Well, worry not.  In this blog I will blow your mind into believing that the 1999 film version of Fight Club and The Raconteurs 2008 release Consolers of the Lonely share some major commonalities. 

To those who haven't seen the movie, I will ruin it for you in this next sentence, so be prepared.  The major twist in the end of the movie unveils that the seemingly radically different two main characters are actually the same person.  The cool, muscular, anti-corporate Brad Pitt is a figment of Edward Norton's soft, pale-skinned and twisted imagination.  The two sides of Norton's coin work together to create "Fight Club," the violence-prone, anti-establishment, anti-advertisement club Norton's character starts in the basement of his rundown house.  His creation overpowers him and grows to have chapters throughout the country.  The monster he created ends up moving past what Norton thought he was getting into and not even he can stop this powerhouse.

"No wonder so many girls like me." -Brad Pitt on the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Similarly, Consolers of the Lonely manically splits itself into two categories.  It pits the dark, edgy and heavy songs like "Consolers of the Lonely," "Attention," and "Five on the Five" against the softer Americana-vibe of "Rich Kid Blues," "Old Enough," and the bonfire sing-along ready "Carolina Drama."  This difference in feel, sound and vibe is even apparent in the demeanor and appearance of the chief songwriters, Jack White and Brendan Benson.  Similar to the differing appearance of Tyler Durden and unnamed narrator played by Norton, White's pale skin and dark hair give him a more hardcore look than the comparably cuddly Benson.  Don't get me wrong Benson is a total badass!  "The Swamp" is one of the greatest songs ever written about purchasing vegetables and prostitutes from the same South American man.  Yes, it might be the only song about that, but still....keyboard solo.

Anyways, these personality differences you might describe as good vs. evil, but more accurately: edgy vs. straight-edgy, go a long way in rounding out the sound of the album and the story in the film.  The  protagonists and antagonists complete the story by somehow working together in an imperfect harmony (Fact: the actual harmonies in Consolers of the Lonely are perfect, just ask Olmec).  They both develop a grittiness that isn't too hot in today's popular culture. 

Fight Club's visual atmosphere appears scratched up especially whenever Brad Pitt's character is featured.  It makes the audience feel the loss of control taking place in the main character's life.  Also adding to that feeling of chaos and danger is the choice to shoot the majority of the film at night.  And everyone knows all the fun and danger takes place at night.  Except for human mistakes like Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker.

Consolers of the Lonely has the same nighttime dangerous feel to it.  By randomly alternating between slow and fast, hard and soft, a chaos is created that leaves the listener guessing what's next.  And I could bore you with more comparisons between these two classics like how they are both throwbacks to old staples (Raconteurs to the Who, and Fight Club to The Graduate, which director David Fincher explains far better than me), but I think these hits just boil down to being badass.  They are both manly entertainment that I would associate with drinking Scotch, fishing with your bare hands and fighting Nazis.

For your enjoyment, the lighter side of Fight Club....