Sound Notes: The Black Keys

The Black Keys deliver on Brothers.

I know what some of you are probably thinking: "If I haven’t listened to Brothers yet, there must be a reason.” I know this because I didn’t listen to it for the first couple of months it was out; I didn’t even want to listen to it. It's not that I dislike the Keys so much, I’d just become bored with them. Each new release seemed like a facsimile of the one that came before it, so I reasoned that if I wanted to listen to the Black Keys I’d just put on The Big Come Up or Thickfreakness. These, after all, are the albums that made me a fan of their work in the first place.  

I’ll chalk it up to a stroke of good luck then that I happened to be channel surfing on a recent night and landed on the Keys doing “Everlasting Light”, the first track off of Brothers, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The first thing that caught my attention was the addition of an organist and bassist. While fuzzed out guitar workouts and stomping drums will always be at the heart of their sound, the new instrumentation added a fresh layer of depth and caused me to perk up a bit. Then Dan Auerbach opened his mouth. Out came a Prince-like falsetto. It sounded good. Really good.

So, I bit. I listened to Brothers the next day and, I must say, I am no longer bored. While the sound is not a sea change from the albums that preceded it, it is different enough to merit renewed interest in a band that otherwise could came off as a one-note. The fingerprint of the raw, unpolished blues-rock that we’ve come to expect from these guys is still all over the newest album, but the prevalence of the organ and recurring visits from Auerbach’s newfound falsetto give this one a significantly more soulful feel than past releases, less Fat Possum and more Stax/Volt or even (at times) Motown in character.  

Brothers runs nearly an hour long, much longer than past Black Keys releases, giving the impression that they were quite inspired while writing these songs, possibly the result of a little time apart while working on various side projects. The first three tracks, the aforementioned “Everlasting Light”, the cathartically throbbing kiss-off “Next Girl”, and the soulful “Tighten Up”, are not only the likely high points here, but also signposts that point the way to three similar, but distinct, sounds that you will hear laced throughout the album. If I had a complaint, it would be that the middle section runs a little bit long. However, I’m not going to complain about a band writing enough great music that they couldn’t decide what to leave off. If you stick with it and get through the slow patch, you will be rewarded, as many of the other fine songs here are relegated to the bottom of the playlist, like the slow-burning “Unknown Brother”, my current favorite track.  

With all of that said, I encourage you to give Brothers a try. If you’re new to the Black Keys, it’ll be a home run for sure, and if you’d given up on the duo you might well find yourself, as I did, with a renewed interest. You can see the Black Keys live tonight at the Nautica Pavilion. 

The Black Keys - "Tighten Up"