The Black Keys

Members:

Dan Auerbach - Guitar/Vocals

Patrick Carney - Drums

Discography:

The Big Come Up - 2002

Thickfreakness - 2003

The Moan (EP) - 2004

Rubber Factory - 2004

Chulahoma: Songs of Junior Kimbrough (EP) - 2006

Magic Potion - 2006

Attack & Release - 2008

Brothers - 2010

Recommended Songs:

"Act Nice and Gentle" (The Kinks cover) off of Rubber Factory

"Just Got to Be" off of Magic Potion

"Meet me in the City" (Junior Kimbrough cover) off of Chulahoma

"Countdown" off of The Big Come Up

Okay, this is getting to be like picking favourite children (of which I have none, children are vile creatures), so I'll end this section with three simple words: they're all good

The Black Keys are a blues/rock duo formed in 2001 in Akron, Ohio, first brought to my attention many years ago by a very tall friend of mine.  At first I was unimpressed by their seemingly simplistic format and lack of fast rocking, fuzz-filled metal riffs that I loved so much in my younger days (one day I'll do a post about all the musical phases I've gone through, but that's a whole other topic on it's own), grouping them in with The White Stripes under my "Too Simple" category.  Little did I know that both The White Stripes and The Black Keys would grow to become two of my favourite bands (did I mention my man-crush on Jack White?), but my 15 year old self wanted to hear Kirk Hammett rip out solos so fast you can't even hear the notes he's playing, and I would have none of this simple shit.

Of course, as I now know, I was dead wrong about what makes music good.  Running on double-kick pedals faster than Usain Bolt doesn't mean you're a good drummer, it just means you can play fast.  The speed and intricacy of a song has absolutely no effect on me anymore.  These days I am more inclined to listen to a song with a catchy riff, a good beat, a unique tone, or (in the case of most hip-hop) well written lyrics. 

Speaking of a unique tone, it was the raw, powerful sound of the album Rubber Factory that initially turned me on to The Black Keys.  The album was actually recorded in an old abandoned rubber factory (hence the name) which has recently been torn down.  Prior to this, the duo had done all their recording in Pat's basement on a 20-something year old 8-track recorder (Thickfreakness was recorded in just 14 hours!!).  Up until Attack & Release, Pat produced all of their albums on his own.  They gathered popularity quite quickly, and by 2006 were signed by Nonesuch Records, with whom they released their last self-produced album, Magic Potion.  This is about the time when I began to appreciate music for things other than complexity, and my Jack White phase had just begun.  I was reintroduced to The Black Keys by the same very tall friend of mine, once more, and began to listen casually.  I knew a few of their songs back then, but didn't consider myself a big fan until after seeing them in 2009 (see below).

With their new-found popularity, Dan and Pat were turning heads not just with the public, but also within the music biz.  Danger Mouse (who has been in and produced a wide variety of bands) approached The Keys and offered to produce their next album, and he has since produced their last two albums.  On Brothers the band strayed from their guitar and drum format and began multi-tracking to add bass and keyboards.  In 2009 they recorded and released a hip-hop/R&B album under the name Blakroc, featuring vocals by such artists as The RZA, Mos Def, Q-Tip and many more.  They are working on a second Blakroc album, slated for release in 2011.

Despite the fact that they have never been to Winnipeg (at least not that I am aware of), I have been lucky enough to see them twice.  The first time was at The Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, in October of 2009.  They played on the main stage during a torrential downpour, and it was that show that pushed them into my "undeniable favourite band" spot.  Though I spent much of the show worrying about not ruining any of the posters or cameras I was holding onto, I was blown away by the amount of noise these two guys could make.  They were almost blown away, too, although in a more literal sense.  The show ended with a gust of wind knocking over half of Pat's drum kit in the middle of a song.  Pretty impressive to see a guy play while cymbals were falling over all around him.  The second time I saw them was at Bonnaroo 2010 in Manchester, Tennessee.  They played a late night show on a fairly large stage to a massive crowd.  Unlike the last time I saw them, they brought up a bass player and keyboardist for a little while to play some of their newer songs.  Personally, I prefer the stuff they did as a two-piece, though the Bonnaroo show goes down as one of the best concerts I've ever seen, probably because it was my favourite band at my favourite festival, after seeing two fulls days of amazing music, with another two days to come.

Well, I'm rambling, and I'm sure very few people have actually made it this far.  Actually, just out of curiosity, if you read this sentence, leave a comment saying so, just so I can see how many people actually made it all the way through.

Here's a couple live videos for your enjoyment

"I Got Mine", "Here I Am I Always Am" and "Same Old Thing"

"Act Nice and Gentle"

I strongly recommend you check out some more videos of these guys, it's hard to pick just two.

See you all next time!