Am I going out on a limb here to say that The Black Keys may have released one of the best albums of 2010? I know there are a lot of dirty kids and bearded music critics out there who would surely back me up. This DIY Ohio blues duo just gets it and has modernized old school blues into a rocking soulful and seductive experience.
The first track on Brothers is “Everlasting Light.” It has a hot boom-kick drum beat that makes you want to dance in a provocative, “I’m rolling on Molly” sort of way. Not to forget the electronica drum stylings in “The Go Getter” that truly represents how The Black Keys have melded old school rock and today’s technological advances. “Too Afraid To Love You” utilizes twangy keys that border between an accordion and organ sound, bringing a haunting element to this epic love song.
Dan Auerbach’s sultry vocals are so powerful and gritty that it sets the perfect tone to tell a story such as in “Next Girl.” It is a great breakup song with the simple yet true lyrics, “My next girl/ Will be nothing like my ex-girl/ I made mistakes back then/ I’ll never do it again.†Then, with “Never Gonna Give You Up,” the Keys kick up the soulful sound, reminiscent of one of my favorite artists, Otis Redding. The lyrics are powerful, bordering stalkerish, but still loving and probably what all girls want their men to say to them at some point, “Never gonna give you up/ No matter how you treat me/ Never gonna give you up/ So don’t you think of leavin’.”
Through a close friend of mine, we got our hands on a very early press release of the album (Note: the album dropped yesterday, May 18th, so we got it awhile ago). I rarely find albums which I can listen to in their entirety, and it is not an exaggeration when I say that we listened to it on repeat for about three months. Even when music execs threatened to sue when they found out that the early release was being circulated and the guilty party almost lost their job, we kept listening. Let’s just put it this way: the album is fucking brilliant. They’re playing Central Park SummerStage in July and if you can find tickets, come join me on Wednesday the 28th!1
- The fellas are playing SummerStage both July 27 and 28.