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Cd review: The Black Keys, El Camino
Rated: 4/5 stars
Two-man bands seem to hit the right hook. First, there’s the White Stripes: a male and female band that hit like a tornado back in the early millennium and rose to prominence with “Seven Nation Army”: ideas of over-analyzing while taking a drag of your filtered Pall Mall. Now we welcome a slightly more tenacious band: two guys, vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney that form the Black Keys. Their seventh album El Camino was released late 2011.
Let’s begin with their name: as mentioned on wikipedia.org and an interview on a Philadelphia radio station Fresh Air, Auerbach and Carney named their act after a schizophrenic artist would leave jumbled messages on their answering machines and refer to their fathers as "black keys.” Oddly enough, the name stuck and the two gentlemen continued to create a sound that fused blues, garage rock and a low-fi growl, while bringing with them a legion of fans.
On El Camino, Auerbach and Carney created beginning tune with “Lonely Boy.” Their video can also be seen on youtube: a one shot deal of a man dancing to his own groove. The idea of the album title, as stated by Carney: “We were actually in Canada on tour (in 2011), in the bus on a long drive, and we drove past an El Camino...one of us suggested we name our record (that) and we both liked it.”
But just so you know, the vehicle on the cover is actually a Chrysler Town & Country van.
Going back to the album though, one can argue about the disparaging quality of El Camino’s song-writing. It’s not outstanding (a little work with a thesaurus could have helped) but it’s heartfelt and simple. Maybe that’s what makes the Black Keys so good. A simple heart, a great rift and top-notch drumming skills. Give those tools to the right two guys and you have a band that knows how to keep time and produce a fresh sound.
With this album, Auerbach and Carney brought in the likes of Danger Mouse: an equally palpable force in music, though leaning more towards hip-hop. Danger Mouse collaborated with Jay-Z, produced with Cee Lo Green and brought serious skills to Gorillaz (Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett) and musician Beck. Lastly, Danger Mouse also toiled with James Mercer of The Shins.
During the fourth song, “Little Black Submarine,” we hear a pained Auerback testify:
“Oh, can it be, the voices calling me?
They get lost and out of time.
I should've seen it glow,
But everybody knows
That a broken heart is blind”
Auerbach and Carney effectively continue El Camino with relentless heart-on-their-sleeve songwriting.
Simple alt-rock has never been so sweet.
For more information on the band, visit theblackkeys.com
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