Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By The Black Keys, Easy Eye Sound/Nonesuch Records 2019.
The Black Keys is a joint project by Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney and their ninth studio album, Let’s Rock, sees a return to their earlier rock sound.
The album was written and tracked live in the Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville by singer/guitarist Auerbach and drummer Carney and features backing vocals by Leisa Hans and Ashley Wilcoxson.
Carney commented that “The record is like a homage to the electric guitar. We took a simple approach and trimmed all the fat like we used to.”
Rolling Stone named the lead single Lo/Hi “A song you need to know” and said, “The Keys have officially returned, louder than ever.”
And the New York Times calls the song “The kind of garage-boogie stomp that the band never left behind.”
As with quite a lot of the music press prognostications it’s important not to believe all the hyperbole.
This album is certainly rockier than their last couple of releases but, despite being mostly live tracked, it’s hardly raucous and as for the label ‘garage-boogie’ it’s too polished to qualify for that genre.
The closest the album gets to garage is the track Go and it’s hardly dirty and grungy enough to qualify.
If you’re after some real garage-boogie go to Dirty Water Records and peruse their site.
The Black Keys however, have crafted a really good and sophisticated modern rock album that displays some excellent songwriting, a great variety of rock styles and some wicked guitar licks.
The overall feel is toward the more mellow and spacious groove of rock, think Steely Dan, rather than the pedal to the metal, volume at 11, rock of say The Angels.
I really enjoyed The Black Keys return to a less studio influenced recording process.
There’s a freshness to the sound that comes with live recording that is often lost when things are over-produced.
