BY MIKEY MIGO
They have been well reviewed, the cool kids like them, and they keep pumping out albums. With all of the come and go stints for many bands these days, it's safe to assume there has to be something about The Black Keys for them to remain consistent. I won't lie; this isn't a complete first impression. I'm fairly certain that a friend has played one of their CDs for me. In the least, I'm sure I've heard a handful of their songs over the years. It's just I've never listened with attentive ears. I recently heard one of their songs and liked it. My perception of them going in is that they're a soulful indie rock band. I could be wrong, but that's how it looks from the outside. My hopes are that they have some substance, depth, groove, and every song doesn't sound the same. With six studio albums and over 70 songs, a tad variety could be welcomed. Who knows? Let's take a listen….
The Big Come Up
(2002 / 55min) The debut album kicks off with "Busted". It's got some dirty groove to start us off before jumping into some muddy blues vocals. If this first song is any indication of what's to come then we should be in good shape over the next few hours."Do the Rump", a Junior Kimbrough cover, is next. It's a dirty and gritty track. It sounds like it's an old blues singer, but the scratchy guitars over it adds a whole new layer of delight. I instantly know "I'll Be Your Man" from the opening riffs. This is used as the theme song for the HBO series "Hung". It's a good tune and I never took into consideration that this was them. The funky groove of "Countdown" puts in you in a place of embrace. The simplicity of the guitar riffs really stand out and work awesome here. We get a recorded sample of an instructional video of some nature and then it feedbacks into one of the pimptastic tracks I've heard in awhile in "The Breaks". This song should have been a single. If I had heard this in 2002 there would be no first impression in 2010 for us to speak of. I'd of been all over this. "Run Me Down", a Muddy Waters cover, is a pretty magical track. "Leavin' Trunk" isn't much different. The building up of "Heavy Soul" is as comforting as anything and then it jumps into some smokey vocals that is pretty common to most blues rock songs we've all heard. It's not bad, not at all. "She Said, She Said", a freakin Beatles cover, is next. I'm not one to shy to the fact that I'm not a huge Beatles fan. I like this better. It just sounds grittier and fuller to me. The slower tempo of "Them Eyes" is pretty awesome. The breakdown/chorus sounds distant, but close enough to bite you if you turn away. "Yearnin'" starts off slow and builds up into a pleading call for wanting your love. It's less than two minutes long, but to be is one of the stand outs on this album. The guitars in "Brooklyn Bound" steals your senses from the rest of the song. It sounds good and grooves throughout, but that scratchy guitar is what gets my head nodding along. We finish with "240 Years Before Your Time". It's one of those sneaky last tracks. It has a bit of freestyle sounding noise for about a minute forty and then at 21:41 we hear an older woman talking mixed in with some random "trippy" samples and some guitar wails that lead into some more freestyle sounding jamming. Kind of lame finish for a pretty good album. Overall, I enjoyed this first album. I can hear tons of potential in these guys. The music is top notch and I'm a fan of music that is emotive and soulful. That's exactly what we get here. The only complaint I have now is that a few songs sound a bit similar. I know the restraints of working within a genre, but I feel like I listened to the same 4 or 5 songs three times each. I'm hoping that's something that expands upon in the next albums.
Thickfreakness
(2003 / 38min) The second album by The Black Keys starts off with the title track, "Thickfreakness". It blasts off and settles comfortably into a grove. I want to say it's as good as the best of the first album. It's just a solid as hell track. It comes clean, but leaves a trail of dirt in its path. Same said for "Hard Row". It's a great tune. One thing I notice here is that it's just as gritty and soulful as the first album, but sounds better. Not just production wise, but sharper and more direction than some of the noise on the first release. I read that they recorded most of the album in one 14 hour basement session. They use old technology to get an old sound and it works. If I didn't know better someone could of told me this was released in the 70's and I'd of not been able to argue. We hit another single, "Set You Free", but I don't think I ever heard it. It's good, but surprisingly the least cool of the first three songs. I can't help but love "Midnight in Her Eyes". The guitar is awesome, the melody is addictive, and the vocals are strong without being jarring. A cover, "Have Love Will Travel", is good stuff. The originator, Richard Berry, is the man responsible for "Louie, Louie", wrote a pretty amazing track back in the day. I dig the play on words for the old saying of "Have Gun With Travel". It's witty and sarcastic enough to prove its point and to rock the hell out while listening. The slow thudding opening of "Hurt Like Mine" is a bit different. It goes into a soulful song, but is possibly the most lack luster song of theirs so far. On most people's albums this would be a highlight, but the soul and blues provided so far set the bar pretty high. We get another single, another from Junior Kinbrough, in "Everywhere I Go". It put me into a trance. I enjoyed it and let myself go with it. It's a keeper for sure. We get some strong tones to start off "No Trust" that morph into a head nodding grove. It's funny because some of the covers they've picked sound like original tunes, but then they have their original works like "If You See Me" and you could almost swear you've heard it before. That kind of comfort in a band is hard to find. The beginning of "Hold Me in Your Arms" pulls you right into to the catchy melody and riffs. The song is decent, but that riff is what'll be stuck in my head next week at three in the morning. The album closes with "I Cry Alone", a down tempo dirt track. It's as if the album thuds itself to nothing. Solid finish. This album was pretty amazing. A lot of times I'll listen to a band and I'll love the first album, but the rest gets tamer and lamer. Not here. I enjoyed the first album, but this album is more polished and has some tracks that are almost too much to handle. This is a pretty quick evolution for the band. With four more albums to listen to, I can't help but be a little concerned. They put the bar pretty high with the first two.
Rubber Factory
(2004 / 41min) "When the Lights Go Out" sounds familiar. Apparently it's been used A LOT by random movies, commercials, and even video games. It's a damn good song. It's not as abrasive as the others, but it has a subtle soul type of feel. It's a powerful song nonetheless and it's easy to see why it's been embraced so much. I'm kind of amazed it wasn't a single. "10 A.M. Automatic", was a single, but isn't nearly as ballsy as the first track. It's good and it has my attention, but I've never heard it before. It's a solid rock track. I can't help but get into "Just Couldn't Tie Me Down". From the start, the groove is strong. It pulls you into a dark world of dancing lights. For some reason "All Hands Against His Own" reminds me of a "Queens of the Stone Age" song. That's not a bad thing, but it's a little weird on this one. "The Desperate Man" is just kind of there. I can't latch on it as much as I want to. I'd hate to use the word "filler", but its kind meh outside of the bad ass guitar solo about two or so minutes in. "Girl Is On My Mind" starts suspiciously like "I'll Be Your Man" from the last album, but they make it different enough to let it slide. The calming drift that is the melody of "The Lengths" is just what the doctor ordered. It's way different than anything else on the album and is a beautiful track to say the least. Next we have a cover of Robert Pete William's "Grown So Ugly". It's a gritty and dirty piece to say the least and stands out. "Stack Shot Billy" kicks off with some mad guitar stank and methodically builds to an abruption of awesomeness. This is another one of those songs that sounds familiar and like it's a cover, but it's not. I dare any open mind to listen to this and not get trapped by the groove. The original version of "Act Nice and Gentle" was a Ray Davies penned jam, but The Keys do their magic on it. It kind of sounds more country than blues-rock. I have to say that "Aeroplane Blues" is one of my favorite tracks on the album. It's got a perfect blend of everything the Keys put out. It just clicks. Same can be said for "Keep Me". It's one of those songs that just click and provides a three minute groove out, rock out, good time break from reality. The last track on the album, "'Till I Get My Way", goes out in style. It was a single, but another I've not heard. The shreds of guitar blended in with the rest of the noise candy. This album is probably the weakest of the first three, but not bad at all. I'm still as enthralled as I've been.
Magic Potion
(2006 / 41min) We kick off the fourth album with "Just Got To Be". I'm a huge fan of the guitar to kick us off. The groove in this one is great. I can clearly hear why this was a single, but I just hadn't heard it until right now. In fact the first three songs on this album are singles. "Your Touch" is next and of course I've heard it. It was in the movie "Zombieland" and the first episode of "Eastbound and Down", but I'm pretty sure I've heard it used in promos elsewhere. It's just a great song and probably one of their top three or four at this point in my listening. "You're the One" brings it down a little for a down tempo trip through the soul. The vocals are sung in an almost droning way that works really nicely. The first three tracks on this album have been great thus far. I'm weary on how the rest of the album is going to keep up. The dirty opening of "Just a Little Heat" would have made a great theme song for pro wrestler "Diesel" back in the day. The song calms into slow and steady head knocker. The little guitar change ups during the verses are really interesting. The guitar at the beginning of "Give Your Heart Away" oddly enough reminds me of Rage Against the Machine's "Bombtrack", but it's definitely not a RAGE song, but Dan Auerbach could be compared to Tom Morello on skill. Something about "Strange Desire" keeps me from getting into it until it breaks down about a two and half minutes in. At that point, I'm hooked into the rocktastic blues guitar. "Modern Times" sounds like a hundred blues songs I've heard before, but rocks just as hard as most. It's got a familiar chill to it, but the word "genuine" is valid description. The slower building throb of "The Flame" is a great breather from the past few songs, but would probably have to get the "least favorite so far" picking on this album. "Goodbye Babylon" feels like you're sneaking in on a freestyle jam session, but it still has some commercial appeal and would have made a pretty great single. The start of "Black Door" makes you think it's going to be a lot cooler than it is, but it's just sorta there. There are good qualities to the song, but it's not as awesome as the rest. We close with "Elevator". It feels like a collage of what the rest of the album has provided. I liked this album a lot. The first half is solid as hell. The second half had two songs that felt kind of "meh", but not enough to ruin the experience. This might be my favorite album of the Keys so far. Two more to go…
Attack And Release
(2008 / 37min) I think this is the album that's been played for me before. "All You Ever Wanted" starts off the fifth album with a laid back track. Just because I say it's "laid back" doesn't mean it's bad. It's a great down tempo song that packs a lot of impact. The big single of the album, "I Got Mine", has been used in a lot of promo and got a fair amount of airplay. This is one of the singles that I can say that I've heard. It's a great song and a definitive Keys track. It's one of those blues rock songs that just reek of accessibility. You listen, you relate, you love. That's all there is to it on this one. "Strange Times", another big single used in a lot of places, is another "definitive track". It doesn't sound much like any of their other stuff, especially the way it breaks down. I said it about a track on an early album, but this song too sounds like a Queens of the Stone Age song. And again, that's not a bad thing at all."Psychotic Girl" is a haunting and subdued tip-toeing sneak into a distressed heart. "Lies" is next. It wasn't a single, but it was used in a few TV shows and Kelly Clarkson, of all people, covered it on tour. It's almost a soul anthem. We drift with "Remember When (Side A)", a down tempo swayer. You'd think "Remember When (Side B)" would be like the first, but it's an up tempo, loud, and staticy noise rock song. The soul and inflections of the vocals here make the song. We get some flute in "Same Old Thing" and it works well with the tune. It's not their best, but it fits the flow of the album nicely. "So He Won't Break" starts with a melodious riff and drum snares into one of the sassiest tunes of the album so far. "Oceans & Streams" should have been a single as well. It's a great mid-tempo song that's pretty damn catchy. The guitars to start off "Things Ain't Like They Used to Be" are spectacular, but then it bleeds into a soulful ballad. I know this album has the huge hits like "Strange Times" and "I Got Mine", but this last tune just may be the most powerful of the bunch. The inclusion of Danger Mouse on production makes for a great time and mixes things up in just the right ways. This album is full of singles or at least songs that should be appreciated singularly as much as they are in flow of this massive album. A lot of songs are used in promo and other forms of media and with good reason. The album is great.
Brothers
(2010 / 56min) The bands most recent and longest album starts off with "Everlasting Light". I instantly find myself tapping a foot along and nodding to the grizzled bass-line. It's a good start. "Next Girl" starts off with a combo of funk and bass that is sort of porn music-like. Luckily it becomes more than that and turns into a bad ass funk track. This song makes me want to put on something colorful and strut to the nearest dirty bar. "Tighten Up" is the reason I'm 6 albums deep into the discography of The Black Keys. This song is magic. It's a tighter than tight blues rock track that is as catchy as anything you'll hear on a pop station, but with so much more substance it'll make you ill. "Howlin' For You" makes me a bit weary. It sounds a bit over produced for what I'm used to. It had the same strut and grit to it as the older stuff, but it sounds too… I don't know… "electronic". It sucks too because I dig the chorus. I get a little of the same on "She's Long Gone", but it's much better. The wailing on "Black Mud" and casual ride that it is a great breather and a chance to prepare for what's hopefully to come; more awesomeness. "The Only One" has a fun melody. The vocals are droney and the song becomes something like what a modern Beach Boys blues track could possibly sound like. I like how "Too Afraid to Love You" sounds, but it doesn't grab me like it should. It feels like filler, but I'd hate to use that word for something that is so bountiful on soul. I find myself won back with "Ten Cent Pistol". It's a breaking down tempo soul track that has pretty cool lyric delivery. Aw shit…"Sinister Kid". This song takes no time in jumping into a full on funk party. I hope this is a single. This is the best song on the album so far by far. I dig "The Go Getter". It's not their best, but it's a good track that keeps me awake. I could also see "I'm Not The One" becoming a single. It's nothing too risky and reminds me of "Tighten Up", but more sultry and slow-swaggered. I'm fairly certain the band invented two science fiction movie dream machines, a reverse aging machine and a time machine. I say this because in "Unknown Brother" it sounds like time traveled back to the 60's and made themselves younger so they could grow up in that time period. That's just the vibe I get. "Never Gonna Give You Up", a Jerry Butler cover, is a great ode to the original. It's nothing too flashy, but it's a pretty interesting cover selection. The album closes with "These Days". It's a down tempo trot into the sunset and a beautiful one at that. I liked this album. My only gripe is that it's too long. If two or three songs were trimmed this could of easily had been their best album. Sadly, I had to say it's the weakest of the bunch… but still pretty great.
The Verdict
The Black Keys
(2002 - ) The Black Keys are a band that you shouldn't own any mp3s of. This is music that should be heard on the openness of vinyl or in a smoky bar somewhere. It's hard to describe every track of The Black Keys. They are a blues rock band with a lot of talent and soul. Each track is its own story, but it is what it is. A lot of it sounds the same. I'd be lying if I said I absorbed everything with one listen, but I enjoyed this experience. I could have gone for a little more variety, but they do their magic magically. But maybe I'm hypocritical on that part because when they did go with a more polished production I found myself annoyed. Overall, this was a very welcomed and needed experience. It is so rare these days for a band to evolve in this type of manner. So often a band will get a few albums in and either sell out, start to suck, or both. Being a music snob, I find myself saying "I liked the first album best" so often. It's that first impression; that first taste if you will; that sparks an interest and that you initially fall in love with. After that, it's like heroine. You keep "chasing the dragon" in hopes of the feeling you had from the first high. With The Black Keys, they keep the dosage right.
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