With all the buzz in the music world about The Black Keys and their growing reputation as the saviors of blues and adding my first hand experience with a good number of their tunes,I was understandably excited when hearing about an upcoming album.Even more so as I find myself desperately searching for new and good music.
These days,it’s so easy to get the overwhelming feeling that you’ve seen it all (pop and punk seem to be entwining out of control with teenage drama in a maddening crash of Brit-accent youth and high pitched guitars of which the large music stores and dedicated TV channels are loving every second)and get this unshakable drowning sensation as you see that your musical universe ISN’T expanding ;and then it’s time to go for the oldies once more…but with at least half a century to search from,it still isn’t an easy job.And although back then your favorite musicians might have been your age,society wasn’t the same as today.Although my viewing of “I’m not there” has been fragmented at best(and I still haven’t seen it all),close to the beginning there is this scene when a little boy is playing the blues with an older man and his son,probably.He pulls it off beautifully but at dinner the woman of the house says that he should sing about what’s happening “now”,about what he knows,and not about the union days,when he wasn’t even born.That’s my problem with the oldies:they’re great but they don’t always work.So new blood is needed.
So I enthusiastically push play and wait…listening…
The first track is “All you ever wanted”,a mellow,melancholic tune,where the emphasis is clearly on the lyrics and Dan Auerbach’s voice which sounds nothing like “Magic Potion”s’ aggressive,Telecaster-like,dynamic vocals.Although more instruments are present(acoustic guitar,organ), adding to melodic possibilities,they are all kept on the low,neither one taking the lead until Auerbach’s guitar solo,which adds a somewhat unnecessary sense of motion right before the end.The arrangement makes for a dull and stagnant background,far too repetitive and tasteless with a not so audible solo( the drums and organ become louder) that sounds a bit out of tune.The vocals sound contemplative but not soulful.A song about a lost love that is now being missed,as far as I can tell.
Second is “I got mine” which after a few chords that seemed to announce a bit of a thrashing – which thankfully doesn’t happen – comes on with a nice,evenly paced,bluesy lead.The vocals are really telling the story of the lyrics and after a successful false outro,the song ends on the chords it started on ,but reworked so they don’t sound half bad this time.The wandering blues-man settling down after having paid his dues.
“Strange times”(also the first single) starts out on Carney’s catchy drum beat(although a little too cheerleader friendly,at first) and the guitar soon comes in,making for a Black Keys track reminiscent of their past work.On the chorus the keyboard comes to life,adding a spacey feel to the song,as if conveying a mythical message.A decent track,with lyrics leaving room for interpretation.
“Psychotic girl” starts off on banjo (I think) and then carries on smooth and lean on a bass pattern with the keyboards coming up again (discretely) on the chorus and even a synth solo further into the song.A nice laid-back mood in spite of all the talk about what seems an obsessed lover.
Half-way into the album,”Lies” starts with a guitar intro that promises both great sound and soul.On this track everything comes together and leaves you with a superb song.The guitar,albeit somewhat repetitive(staying true to Black Keys tradition of simplicity with a huge punch) is perfect for giving an ominous and inescapable feel,along with the precise and haunting drums and the background vocals.As for the lyrics and vocals:I’m more than hooked.This one’s about how lies can destroy a real relationship,one based on love and trust…
Now we are offered a treat:same lyrics with two different orchestrations.”Remember when(Side A)” is the locked-up-in-his-room brother,poetic and depressive.I think that the main issue(for me) with these two tracks is that the singing doesn’t work very well with what’s going on with everything else.The guitar piece is stock-not out-right bad but does nothing for the song:it’s the kind of thing you imagine being played in a boat on the Mississippi or in the bayou.Not a bad thing considering they are blues-men,but I don’t find the vocals in that same boat…Also the synthesizer can be heard making some high-pitched sounds,which I think are out of place.And the keyboard outro sounds like Alicia Keys’ new single(of which I don’t know the name),finishing the song off with a purely digital and useless sound.”Remember when(Side B)” is the upbeat,ladies-man brother.The song is essentially sad,no happy feeling that I can detect,but being sad over a “broad” never got anything done is the message I got.The beat played by the drums accompanied by a bass and the shrieking bends played throughout the song seem to be the kind of thing you get sick of after a few listens:too in your face with nothing to say underneath.And the power chords aren’t that great either.Also,I think that too much background noise (please note that I’m not talking about The Keys’ lo-fi sound) killed a possibly good solo,making it harder to hear and breaking it’s momentum.
Track number eight,”Same Old Thing”,is a tune that really sounds like the Keys,with Auerbach’s characteristic guitar pacing.Nice irony,huh?Although the flute is a little unexpected for them,it does its part pretty good.A fairly good song,I have to say;it sounds like they’re really wanted to say something with this one.
On this one the influence of Danger Mouse couldn’t be more obvious:”So he won’t break” is a tad out of the area of music Carney and Auerbach are known in and for.It sounds like a Amy Winehouse or Duffy track-something which would have been played 50 or more years ago in a dark and empty club by some guys in suits and ties,with no one paying attention to them.Not a bad tune,the vocals don’t seem out of place,but it kinda seems a sell-out.
“Oceans and streams” is a good song.It still retains a lot of what comes to mind when thinking of them.Again,lyrically interesting and the vocals give a sense of urgency.It’s really subjective now.It depends on how you respond to change and on what you think caused that change.As I see it,it’s about a man who is getting old and sees the changes that are happening to him.
The last song of the album is “Things Ain’t Like They Used To Be”.Kinda weird after “The Same Old Thing”,but,alas,I’m no artist. The intro reminds me of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Burning of the Midnight Lamp”,both having the same mystique about them.It’s a beautiful song,with lyrics that make you listen closely,a delicate,evocative solo and,which is unusual,the presence of a female back-up singer.This song scores good points all around,but again a slightly different direction for the Akron duo.It’s a great mood song.
So,over all,I am going to give this album a close listening,although I will skip some tracks that I think have already given all they had:this album is called “Attack and release”,but I think the attack is mainly missing.A smart decision by the Keys to start learning about making music from a pro;I’m just not sure whether Danger Mouse was the right mammal for this job-he didn’t do that bad,but it’s not entirely blues and it’s not a whole.It doesn’t feel like a step ahead,like progress.But we have to pardon the use of synthesizer,bass and keyboard on many of the songs and the 2008 chart-aware feel as this is an album of experimentation and of feeling the ground beneath their feet.The lo-fi sound that was at the core of their music has been smoothed out a little,making the album seem even more over-produced.This transcended into the vocals,which seem to have lost their power,youthful energy and frankness to a more distant and mature attitude thanks to the effects on the microphone. And although drums kits aren’t my instrument of choice,I think there is a noticeable simplification of Pat Carney’s beats,becoming much more conventional, tamed.
The other important issue is the way they play these songs live.It’s going to be a while before I see them sitting on the door step of my mother-land(or,hopefully,not) so I have to rely on a concert review made by Valerio on “Live on 35mm” (http://liveon35mm.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/the-black-keys/)-the photos are also his work.There he says that the songs are stripped down and the fuzz is back;long live lo-fi!
So,it seems the duo haven’t at all forgotten where they come from and where they’re not supposed to go,which can only make everyone very,very happy.
P.S. This has been my first attempt at writing a review.I hope it’s not that bad and I did The Black Keys justice.Does no one have the heart to give me a Firebird too?
hmm…by Razvanish.
