"Brothers" is how I got into The Black Keys. A very good friend of mine (the same friend who got me into The White Stripes) bought a copy of the album for me. Knowing my tastes in music as he did, and knowing how I appreciated good sounds and was wanting to expand my knowledge of modern bands, my friend figured "Brothers" was a good place to start. He was right.
I love "Brothers." From the first track ("Everlasting Light") to its big single ("Tighten Up"), the music engaged me. It had a groove to it, an energy ... almost amused and angry at the same time, and the beat got the feet tapping and the head nodding. Heck, I even love the font choice for the album's cover (Cooper Black ... it was the type used for The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds," among others).
All right, so my interest in The Black Keys was piqued. Admittedly, I haven't picked up their earlier albums yet. Part of it was a fear that I wouldn't like their earlier stuff as much, which was fed by so many critics and reviews calling "Brothers" their breakthrough album. Another reason was, well, I was curious to see where the band would go next ... I wasn't so concerned with where they'd come from. (That time will come, have no fear. I tend to fill in the the blanks on all the groups that grab my interest.)
In mid November, my wife said that The Black Keys were due to release a new album in early December. Well, I was definitely curious about how it would sound. Would the guys "clone" the material of "Brothers," to safely enjoy the critical and commercial blessings they'd received with the previous album? Would The Keys go "hipper than thou" and dismiss "Brothers" as middle-of-the-road fluff and experiment with their sound/style? Or would they just set out to create a good record and let the sounds develop themselves?
Well, reviews have been positive for the most part, and the album is doing well on the charts. The first single, "Lonely Boy," climbed to No. 2 on the US Billboard Top 200. That's not the No. 1 that "Tighten Up" hit, but no one can complain with such a high showing.
I've heard a couple of the songs and have really enjoyed them (my first exposure to "Lonely Boy" came with the video for it). But I haven't had the opportunity to sit down and enjoy the album properly, giving it my full attention. The Beach Boys' "The SMiLE Sessions" came out in early November and I haven't been able to stop listening to that (just ask my poor wife).
When I'd announced my intentions to live blog an album, I wanted to do something I hadn't really heard yet. Or I wanted to do something I hadn't heard in a while. I didn't want a fully developed love, hate or apathy to mar the live blogging experience. I wanted something fresh, to reflect my initial reactions to the material.
To that end, I actually had a couple albums that I considered. One was Hugh Laurie's "Let Them Talk." Laurie, best known in the United States for his role as Dr. Gregory House on the TV show "House" (or "House, M.D."), put out a pretty cool blues album that had my interest. I also considered Al Jardine's "A Postcard from California," as I'd only listened to that once or twice in 2010 after it came out. I decided against both of these, however, because I still hadn't unwrapped my copy of "El Camino," and I didn't want to neglect it further.
I bought the album the day it came out. I ended up giving that copy to another good friend of mine who hadn't really heard their stuff before. Thus, in a way, I returned the favor to the friend who had introduced the group to me. I bought a second copy and it's been sitting in a pile of music, waiting for its chance to shine.
Well, tonight is the night.
In order to give this the live blog experience, I'm going to use comments to give my thoughts as I listen. The main post that I've written to this point won't change after I've started. So to get my reviews of the tracks/album, please read the comments. Barring any interruptions (phone calls, etc.), I'm going to go straight through. It's all about immediacy. Time and further listening will refine my opinions and perhaps my outlook will change. But tonight, first impressions are gonna count.
Ready to go? Let's do it.
All right, I just took the plastic off the CD. The silver sticker on the wrapper tells me to "PLAY LOUD." Will do.
ReplyDeleteOpened the case. It opens up to show different pictures of vans. Weird, but OK. I like the pattern design on the CD label itself. Kind of looks like a 1970s record label. Very retro.
ReplyDeleteAlbum opens with "Lonely Boy" and the guitar riff, with insistent drumming joining in. Kicking butt. Kind of reminds me of Foghat and Steppenwolf.
ReplyDeleteAt a minute in, the chorus kicks in and has some harmony vocals and a catchy "whoa oh ohhhh / I got a love that keeps me waitin'" lyric. Niiiice.
ReplyDeleteThat guitar work is so crunchy. "Lonely Boy" is a rocker, sure to please live. I'd be stomping the heck out of my floor if I was listening in my car.
ReplyDelete"Dead and Gone" is the second track. Good drum beat at the beginning. More than 30 seconds in, and getting vocalizations but no lyrics.
ReplyDelete45 seconds in, getting lyrics. And digging Auerbach's voice on this. He's holding some notes here.
ReplyDeleteHand claps here are infectious. Good lord, the energy is contagious. I just freaked my cats out with clapping along.
ReplyDeleteI can see this song developing as a big audience participation track. Lyrics aren't too complex, lots of little vocal riffs. Da da / na na / whoa oh ohhh (again?), that kind of stuff.
ReplyDeleteInsistent beat throughout, a great chug.
"Gold on the Ceiling" is up now, the third track.
ReplyDeleteGuitar really, really hits me like a 1970s style ... but far more distorted and up in the mix.
The drum groove works so well with the guitar. You get some really tasty guitar lines about a minute and 20 seconds in, and the vibe changes with the arrangement. Rock with soul and blues flashes.
ReplyDeleteThree tracks of upbeat rockers, and I'm digging it. "Gold on the Ceiling" is catchy, but not very challenging. Repetitive after the first 2 minutes, but not in an annoying way.
ReplyDeleteFor track No. 4, we have "Little Black Submarines."
ReplyDeleteKind of an amplified acoustic picker here. Digging it so far. The voice is the biggest element through the first thirty seconds.
"Everybody knows that a broken heart is blind" ... LOVE this lyric. Comes about 50 seconds in.
ReplyDeleteArrangement gets a bit more elaborate after a minute. Piano backing?
ReplyDeleteHrm, sounds like an organ or synthesizer. Adding nice background
ReplyDelete2 minutes into the song, the tone and style totally change. Guitar riffs, drums kick in alive, it sounds ANGRY ... broken heart turns to range?
ReplyDeleteThe guitar noodles here are so, so great. I love the pull. Taking the same lyrics but with a totally different feel. Glorious!
ReplyDeleteIs he saying a broken heart is fine, now? Really? Like his anger or hurt is letting him pass it off, shrug it off? ... Man, I hope I heard that right.
ReplyDeleteThe guitar riffs here are so fierce.
The next track is up now, and it's a stomper too. "Money Maker."
ReplyDeleteGood beat here. The type of track I air drum to. Heck yeah, man. :)
ReplyDeleteLyrics are harder to make out here. Guitar strums and the drum kick are higher in the mix.
ReplyDeleteTwo minutes in, it seems like an insistent riff tune.
ReplyDeleteAh, about 2:15 in we get a lead guitar lick.
ReplyDeleteMan, did these guys just want to create a great roadtrip CD?
ReplyDeleteShrieking lead guitar kicks off the next track, "Run Right Back."
ReplyDeleteDunno how they're getting the drum sound here. It's all compressed, but sounds like he's pounding a cardboard box. In a good way. It's so ... thud thud BOOM.
ReplyDeleteI could totally see this song on a soundtrack to a movie. Has that kind of feel. Heck, put it on a James Bond movie!
ReplyDelete2:45 in and hearing that guitar in the background with the "run right back to her" lyric and it leads into a different guitar riff in the outro.
ReplyDeleteLike the falsetto!
"Sister" is track 7.
ReplyDeleteBoom thwack drums with some slicing guitar riffs.
It's almost like these guys found some "songs for the road" cassette with some great late 1960s / 1970s songs.
ReplyDelete"Sister" isn't as catchy as the other songs, but it's got a good beat to it. I really like the guitar line that's winding through it at about 2:00 in.
If you replaced the guitar with some synthesizers, this would have been a kickass 1980s song.
ReplyDelete"Hell of a Season" is now up to bat.
ReplyDeletethe beat is almost "My Sharona"
ReplyDeletethe drum work is the star on this song so far
ReplyDeleteI'm about 1:33 in and don't really remember the lyrical matter, I'm all caught up in the drum work
the higher harmony vocal on this track sounds Jack White-esque
ReplyDeleteguitar work here is kind of underwatery, shimmery
ReplyDeletenot my favorite track, but I do love the drumming on it
ReplyDeleteok, now we're on "Stop Stop"
ReplyDeletelove the intro ... almost sounds (again) like the 1970s, though at the front of a movie
ReplyDelete"yeah you gotta / stop stop" goes into a higher vocal range at 1:30 that caught my attention ... nice hook
ReplyDeleteguitar riff lifts off about 1:56, nothing complicated but it suits the tune of the song
ReplyDeletegreat vocals, and nice drum work with guitar that works for it ... a good track, nothing stellar, but certainly not filler
ReplyDeleteUp to the next track, next-to-last, and it's called "Nova Baby"
ReplyDeletealready love the beginning, has some synth or something playing an ethereal melody
ReplyDeletegoes right back to stomp rock very quickly
ReplyDeleteI like the melody and the "don't know what you want" enunciation in the chorus
ReplyDeleteelevator ladies in the parking lot? Hrm
ReplyDeleteabout 2:30 in, the sound gets really saturated with his vocals and the music and the synth and the guitar ... almost overpowering
ReplyDeletelots of reverb at the end
ReplyDeleteFinal track, "Mind Eraser"
ReplyDeleteanything goes / yeah / anything goes ... heh
ReplyDeletethe vocal is just a bit too processed, I like the track so far but the vocal would benefit from a direct performance
ReplyDeletelove the bass / drum interlock on this track
ReplyDelete2:15 in, you get an SOS kind of guitar riff ... not literally SOS, but lots of patterned notes
ReplyDeletedon't let it be over / let it be over / ooooh (no?)
ReplyDeleteactually, that's a pretty eloquent way to end the album ... that song's fade and the last lyrics of "don't let it be over" make for a nice nod
ReplyDeleteWell, that's a short album ... but definitely fits with the 1960s and 1970s style albums of about 40 minutes or so.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty relentless. The beat is constant, and it doesn't have any ballads or slower songs.
Ok, so my first impression summary:
ReplyDeleteIt's a cool album. I think (again, first impression) that I like "Brothers" better. "Brothers" has a bit more variety in sound and song structure.
BUT.
But "El Camino" might be a far more satisfying disc for long drives. There's never a flag in energy. And the drum fills and guitar riffs throughout are so catchy. This is a stadium album, no letups, just constant rock.
And that's a good thing.
Black Keys, you've done a very good album here. That's two for two on my end, and seals me as a fan.
According to Wikipedia, "El Camino" means "the road" or "the path." Huh. Well, works for me. Goes with the whole road trip thing I brought up.
ReplyDeleteThere's some great rock here, and some tracks that even go funky. Little bits of soul, but you'd expect that from such a blues-rock kind of band.
The album kind of starts repeating itself after the first half, but it never gets bad or clunky or boring. You'll get those occasional drum parts or vocal touches that pull you right back in again.
I'd highly recommend the album to fans of "Brothers," of The White Stripes or just good ol' rock and roll. If you enjoy "Born to Be Wild," you'd dig this record.