REVIEW - the black keys, "attack and release"

i was really interested to hear the new black keys release, even more so than usual.

first off, i should say that i have a special spot in my heart for the keys in that they are from akron, and as such manage to embody that special northeastern-ohioness in their music. most of my crazy space-and-place theories aside, growing up in the canton/akron area is a special sort of harrowing experience. i think pretty much everybody would say this about the place that they grew up, true, but i honestly believe there is a special combination of angst and love inherent in growing up in northeast ohio that makes it unique from any other shitty place to grow up in the U.S. something about old, deindustrializing steel towns, i dunno. anyway, there are a bunch of musicians from the area that especially embody and explain the attitude of growing up there that i'm a huge fan of (goodmorning valentine, patrick sweany, the whiskeyhounds (now the magpies, i believe, and of course the keys). trent reznor and marilyn manson also both grew up within a stone's throw of where i was born, but let's not think too deeply about that.

my point is, i guess, that i have in interest in the black keys that goes beyond simple love for their music. we're brothers in arms, in a way. at least i like to think so. it doesn't hurt that i love me some blues, too. so i gobbled up their last four releases. though, by the time i got to the end of "magic potion" for the first time, i was sort of wondering, as i think a lot of fans were: "what's next?" i mean, there seemed to be this implicit assumption that they couldn't put out another record so much like their first four, which, to be fair, have at least small sonic differences and idiosyncracies each on their own, but largely sound exactly the same: like a garage blues duo recording demos, well, in their garage. this was well and good, but after four discs, there wasn't really, it seemed, anywhere to go. i mean, the white stripes have been doing a similar thing for longer than the keys, but then again, jack white is completely insane and awesome and could probably wring 10 albums out of the same formula without riffing (pun intended) too hard on his previous works. i love dan auerbach's guitar work, but there's definitely a sameness to the keys' albums. for awhile, that sameness was a comfort, but this time around i was hoping for something new.

cue the keys getting danger mouse as their producer. cue a focus on dreamy, almost folky melodies and weird chorus effects. cue 2 minutes into the first track on the album, when a fucking organ comes in amid a wash of sonic effects to jam along with dan and pat. this time you're in for something different. but how different?

well, first of all, this album is short on rockers. there's "i got mine", which comes in after the organ in "all you ever wanted" almost like an apology. "don't worry, we can still do this too. see?" the next song, "strange times", is a rocker too, but the main riff is almost more of a rock riff, almost even reminiscent of the aforementioned stripes, rather than a blues riff...then there's the handclaps and the ever-present chorus-y synth voices in the chorus. it's not until "remember when (side b)" that you get another glimpse of the old-school keys. if you are looking for another, fifth, balls-to-the-wall blues rock album, you're going to enjoy about 1/3rd of this album and then probably get bored. if you're a fan of "you're the one" from "magic potion" or "the lengths" from the fucking awesome "rubber factory", then you'll like more of what's on offer here. throughout all the songs, there's some danger-mouse-woven chorus effects, keyboard riffs, etc. and by their very nature, these almost-ambient effects work better on the slower songs. though the flute on "same old thing" is pretty fantastic.

if i had to complain about something (and i always do), it's that the addition of danger mouse's production to the band's sound is a double-edged sword. while it's great to have some extra sounds and effects on the album, and in most cases it really does add a lot to the band's sound, sometimes is also makes the keys sound like every other indie rock band out there. and as much as i wouldn't have wanted to get a repeat of "magic potion", on a few tracks, certain effects are so evocative of bands like modest mouse that i winced the first time i heard them in a sort of protective "what have you done to the keys?!" response. mostly the new sound works, but at its worst it sometimes seems to strip what makes this band different from a lot of indie rock out there, which is sad.

another bit of good news is that with the new, slower, more atmospheric songs, dan gets to stretch his voice a bit, and it's a good thing. that boy really can sing. see the album's final track, "things ain't like they used to be" for the best example of this. this might be my favorite track on the album, also.

overall: a good mix of new and old. if you know the keys and you know danger mouse, you sort of know what to expect. which isn't a bad thing.

"psychotic girl" from the black keys' "attack and release"