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The Black Keys: Music Review
A slow, pulsing, almost tribal drumbeat rattles in the opening track of The Rubber Factory; the third album from blues infused garage-rock band, The Black Keys. "When the Lights Go Out" heralded a testament that the soul of this duo had yet to go deeper. Singer Dan Auerbach's moody bellows croon and culminate over his whaling six string riffs, buzzing and grinding to the booty shaking rhythms of drummer Patrick Carney. "When the Lights Go Out", is just one of the reasons to think that The Black Keys are sparking matches in the gas filled room where someone turned the lights out on Blues Rock; a sound that's ready to blow. Auerbach and Carney raised an infectious sound of 12 bar blues with lyrical storytelling from back room bars and smoky backcountry shacks. Yet they hail from the pavement of Akron Ohio and after getting fired from their landscaping jobs, packed their hatchback and blazed a trail of heart pounding gigs. That was 2002 with their debut album, The Big Come Up, and then 2003 brought the thundering, Thickfreakness and a consecutive run into 2004's The Rubber Factory and an EP, The Moan. With a Junior Kimbrough tribute album and an official bootleg Live Album, 2006 also brought their latest, Magic Potion. In case you weren't counting that's seven releases in the course of five years, fanning a fire whose flames don't to seem to be simmering anytime soon. With a tinny, stylish touch, they first recorded in an Ohio basement with the Fat Possum Label and that authentic sound still resonates on Magic Potion. With tracks like "Strange Desire", "The Flame" and "You're the One", the album brews up lustful howls of a scorned heart. Auerbach plays like a guy who just wants to Rock, but is fighting off the ghosts of Blues legends battling for his soul. All the while Carney drops the big guns to keep the duo on the path of Rock oblivion. Upon first hearing the band, you might think, how did I miss these guys? Their Low-Fi, analog recoding style predates their sound in the age of digital; it's as if they popped out of a time Machine buried in Jimmy Page's backyard. Then you find that the Black Keys aren't some obscure band you smack yourself for having never heard, it's just two guys with a refined aesthetic. Though chances are, with their spat of Soundtrack spots and commercial licensing, their grainy guitar fuzz and rhythmic jolts have infiltrated your culture bubble. Any guitar aficionado will get hooked on these melodies, and hear due respect to the likes of Hendrix or Stevie Ray and the early cries of Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters. Aside from the late 1990's blues revival that did little to rev up the aching hearts of a pop era, The Black Keys play in a class such as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, only deeper. This duo conjures up classic, to the core blues with the raw amplified power of Led Zeppelin. In fact, Zeppelin's own Robert Plant mentioned, that he's "happy listening to the Black Keys. They're Akron's most feted sons, and they owe a lot to Skip James, as do I" (Pitchfork Media). A luminary Blues songwriter, Skip James influenced 1960s rock groups like Cream (Eric Clapton), and you can feel an equally raw energy inspired in The Black Keys - yes that last statement just equaled The Black Keys to Cream. The duo has stomped stages as far as Australia, what they once called their adopted second home, basking in the light of the Aussies' reception. On the 2005 Bonnaroo Zooma tour, they erupted on stage alongside Trey Anastasio, Ben Harper, Jurassic Five, Galactic, G. Love and Special Sauce, among others. That came after a fresh dig into the southern US in Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Texas, picking up from their explosive Australian sojourn. A loyal world wide fan base is cropping up and each album leaves no ear disappointed. The band has a planned performance on the Lollapalooza Tour at the Chicago show in August, with a scattering of shows throughout. The band also mentioned working on their next album with none other than Ike Turner on the Danger Mouse Label. This is the blues, but as the Duo says it's just a Rock 'n' Roll band. It seems modesty does exist in the genius of guitar rock greatness. You can listen to The Black Keys Interview and Session on World Cafe at NPR. |
The Black Keys: The Duo that Relit the Flames of Blues Rock
| The Black Keys Official Website
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