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Avg: 4.0 (897 ratings)
- Date Released: September 7, 2004
- Genre: Blues
- Style: Contemporary Blues, Garage Rock
- Label: Fat Possum Records
Blues duo brings the gritty sound of...Ohio
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We Say...
What hath White Stripes wrought? Suddenly, blues duos are everywhere, which is certainly better than when blues "deconstructionists" (it's still unclear what they even are) were everywhere. The most buzzed-about duo, the Black Keys, up the ante over their competition from both camps by actually demonstrating a decent feel for bedrock blues. Not that they're purists — there's a reason why drummer Patrick Carney and guitarist/fiddler/vocalist Dan Auerbach wear their industrial hometown of Akron, Ohio, on their sleeves as proudly as Devo did. That's most apparent on the metallic riff-raunch of "10 A.M. Automatic," especially when Auerbach unleashes distortion and fuzztone that'd rattle Ike Turner's fillings.
Even when they're playing the most conventional blues, the Black Keys amp it up. But they're capable of doing so without sacrificing nuance on songs like "Girl Is on My Mind," and Carney swings almost as hard as he thumps on the opening "When the Lights Go Out." "The Lengths" is about as pastoral as they get, while "Act Nice and Gentle" is affectingly lyrical, and their remake of Robert Pete Williams' great "Grown So Ugly" is as earthy as some of Captain Beefheart's blues interpretations.
Auerbach is no great shakes as a singer, but does the best he can with the limited voice he has to work with. Purists may be repelled, but this pair offers as much meat, in its own way, as most of the purist revivalist bands, and a lot more surprise. -
They Say...
It's easy to think of the Black Keys as the flip side of the White Stripes. They both hail from the Midwest, they both work a similar garage blues ground and both have color-coded names. If they're not quite kissing cousins, they're certainly kindred spirits, and they're following surprisingly similar career arcs, as the Keys' third album, Rubber Factory, is neatly analogous to the Stripes' third album breakthrough, White Blood Cells. Rubber Factory finds the duo expanding, stretching, and improving, coming into its own as a distinctive, original, thoroughly great rock & roll band. With 2003's Thickfreakness, guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney delivered on the promise of a raw, exciting debut by sharpening their sound and strengthening the songwriting, thereby upping the ante for their next record, and Rubber Factory doesn't disappoint. Instead, it surprises in a number of delightful ways, redefining the duo without losing the essence of the band. For instance, the production has more shades than either The Big Come Up or Thickfreakness -- witness the creepy late-night vibe of the opening "When the Lights Go Out" or how the spare, heartbroken, and slide guitar-laden "The Lengths" sounds like it's been rusted over -- but it's also harder, nastier, and uglier than those albums, piled with truly brutal, gut-level guitar. Yet through these sheets of noise, vulnerability pokes through, not just on "The Lengths," but in a lazy, loping, terrific version of the Kinks' "Act Nice and Gentle." And, like their cover of the Beatles' "She Said, She Said" on their debut, "Act Nice and Gentle" illustrates that even if the Black Keys have more legit blues credentials than any of their peers, they're nevertheless an indie rock band raised with not just a knowledge of classic rock, but with excellent taste and, most importantly, an instinct for what makes great rock & roll. They know that sound matters, not just how a band plays but how a band is recorded, and that blues sounds better when it's unvarnished, which is why each of their records feels more like a real blues album than anything cut since the '60s. But they're not revivalists, either. They've absorbed the language of classic rock and the sensibility of indie rock -- they're turning familiar sounds into something nervy and fresh, music that builds on the past yet lives fearlessly in the moment. On a sheer gut level, they're intoxicating and that alone would be enough to make Rubber Factory a strong listen, but what makes it transcendent is that Auerbach has developed into such a fine songwriter. His songs have enough melodic and lyrical twists to make it seem like he's breaking rules, but his trick is that he's doing this within traditional blues-rock structures. He's not just reinvigorating a familiar form, he's doing it without a lick of pretension; it never seems as if the songs were written, but that they've always existed and have just been discovered, which is true of any great blues song. Carney gives these songs the production they deserve -- some tunes are dense and heavy with guitars, others are spacious and haunting -- and the result is the most exciting and best rock & roll record of 2004.
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| 01. |  |
When The Lights Go Out |
3:23 |
|
| 02. | |
10 A.M. Automatic |
2:59 |
|
| 03. | |
Just Couldn't Tie Me Down |
2:57 |
|
| 04. | |
All Hands Against His Own |
3:16 |
|
| 05. | |
The Desperate Man |
3:54 |
|
| 06. | |
Girl Is On My Mind |
3:28 |
|
| 07. | |
The Lengths |
4:54 |
|
| 08. | |
Grown So Ugly |
2:27 |
|
| 09. | |
Stack Shot Billy |
3:21 |
|
| 10. | |
Act Nice And Gentle |
2:41 |
|
| 11. | |
Aeroplane Blues |
2:50 |
|
| 12. | |
Keep Me |
2:52 |
|
| 13. | |
Till I Get My Way |
2:31 |
|
13 Total Tracks, 41:33 Total Length
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Credits
- Greg Calbi - Mastering // Michael Carney - Artwork // Michael Carney - Design // The Black Keys - Producer // The Black Keys - Main Performer // The Black Keys - Mixing // Patrick Carney - Percussion // Patrick Carney - Drums // Patrick Carney - Handclapping // Patrick Carney - Engineer // Patrick Carney - Group Member // Dan Auerbach - Fiddle // Dan Auerbach - Guitar // Dan Auerbach - Vocals // Dan Auerbach - Handclapping // Dan Auerbach - Lap Steel Guitar // Dan Auerbach - Group Member
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