The last thing Jack White should do right now is start a new band” was a statement floating
around 2006 and while specific quote attribution is long lost to the sands of time, whomever felt
that enough to say it would soon bear witness to the collaborative juggernaut of the Raconteurs.
Subtly introduced to the world as “a new band of old friends” the Raconteurs burst onto the
early-Aughts rock and roll landscape with a pedigree and a passion. Brendan Benson’s
impressive resume already included a foundational deal/album with Virgin, shoulder brushes
touring with the Wallflowers and jammed-on by Foo Fighters all building a reputation amongst
those in the know as a songwriter nonpareil.

Benson had befriended Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, best known as the rhythm section
for the Greenhornes, a Cincinnati-based combo equal parts blue-eyed soul and back-bone
slipping garage rock. Keeler and Lawrence had served as the drummer and bassist for 2004’s
critical behemoth Van Lear Rose, the Grammy-award winning late-career shot-in-the-arm for
American treasure Loretta Lynn.

That album was produced by Jack White, arguably at the zenith of his pop culture saturation
through his iconoclastic work as guitarist, singer and songsmith for the White Stripes.
Twenty years since its release, the Raconteurs debut album Broken Boy Soldiers stands as a
shining example of the inherent and undying power of the by-the-books band, four people, four
instruments, occasional harmonies…a template solidified and popularized by the Beatles and a
touchstone ever since. As the 70th (!) entry in Third Man Records illustrious subscription series
The Vault, Broken Boy Soldiers XX serves as the much-needed 20th anniversary companion to
the landmark album.

Recorded entirely at Benson’s Le Grand Studios in the attic of his then-home at 419 East Grand
Boulevard in Detroit, the sweaty, unplanned sessions found little time for anything outside the
focus of music. While the album ably served as a platform to appropriately showcase the talents
of all band members, two decades on there are still ample extras and nuggets to sink one’s
archival teeth into.

The revelatory studio demo of “Level” and the previously-released early take of “Steady, As She
Goes” both pair solidly with the unheard, unreleased, unknown song “Mech Royal” all Benson /
White efforts pre-dating Soldiers proper yet serving as foundational to it. These are the
overlooked gems the Vault was explicitly created to highlight.

From the full-band sessions, the jewel of an alternate unheard take of “Blue Veins” is beyond
exceptional, raw, bare, absent in-the-mix trickery and extending to a seven-minute runtime,
while insightful iterations of “Bedridden Blues (aka The Bane Rendition)” and “Store Bought
Bones” delight in their derivations. Just see if you can find the full-band punch-in overdub hiding
in the grooves.

To further illuminate the anniversary matter is the previously unreleased recording of the
Raconteurs first-ever live performance from Liverpool on March 20th, 2006. With the trusty
Hutch behind the mixing board, this debut public outing is brimming with excitement and energy,
highlighted by the full retinue of Soldiers tracks and two electrifying covers…”A House Is Not A
Motel” written by Arthur Lee and performed by his outfit Love in 1968 and “Headin’ For The
Texas Border” the propulsive Flamin’ Groovies tune dating to 1970.
Said White of the Liverpool performance at the time “I’m not used to being able to take a sip of
water in the middle of a song.”

Twenty-three tracks (twenty-two of which are previously unreleased) pressed across three LPs
of brilliant metallic copper, grand green and coke bottle clear ….packed in two gatefold jackets
and housed in a sumptuous slip case to hold it all. And still, there’s more.
The “Steady, As She Goes” video shoot film strip is a tasty trinket. Printed on proper PhotoKem
FILM (transparent) and highlighting individual shots of each band member pulled from the
original, Jim Jarmusch-directed clip for “Steady” this novel piece stands as a testament to the
analog approach that was utilized for recording the album and filming the video.

As a continuation of the wildly celebrated introduction of the line earlier this year, Third Man’s
Tripppl imprint is ecstatic to unveil onto the fans the next four cards in the collectible series. With
each one highlighting a treasured Broken Boy Soldiers-era instrument from Brendan, Jack, Jack
and Patrick, you better believe autographs and foils will be randomly dropped into packages.
Sign up at www.thirdmanrecords.com/vault by midnight central time October 31st to lock-in your
copy of Broken Boy Soldiers XX.