I have to admit that the Black Keys‘ music is a little bit new to me. Every once in a while I would hear about them, or catch a little snippit of one of their songs. But I never really gave them a shot. About a month ago, they were playing a secret promo show for Kin Spot. We opted out. Now, I totally wish that I would have gone. Shortly after the weekend of the show (that we didn’t go to), I read a really favorable review of their recently released album, “Brothers.” So, I decided that I should check them out.
The beautiful thing about discovering a band after the fact, is that if the band has been productive at all, there will be a modest catalog of songs to discover. For me, working my way through their previous albums was like being able to open a new box on an advent calendar, each time I heard a new song. I really really like their sound. Here are some of the reasons:
1. The guitar riffs remind me a lot of the stuff that my friend Joel used to write, when we had a garage band together, back in the day. Very simple stuff, but super moody and dripping with style.
2. Even though they have a very distinct sound, all of their songs don’t sound derivative of each other. They have enough latitude in their vocal and instrumental writing, that there is some good variety, from album to album.
3. They are from Akron Ohio. You have to give props to a band from the midwest, that makes it this big.
I hope that I didn’t talk them up too much. Ok, check out “All Hands Against His Own,” from their 2004 release “Rubber Factory.”