The Black Keys

I am a huge fan of the Black Keys. Now, admittedly, I have only physically seen them once live, so most of my feelings are built off of listening to their albums. But that is enough for me to formulate my opinion. They are one of the best new bands I have heard, and they reinvigorate me to play guitar.

For a while I was trying to figure out whether or not I like Dan Auerbach's voice. He has a different voice, a sort of gravelly voice. For a while I couldn't place what it sounded like, but now I think I know. He has that bluesy, soulful voice that reminds me of blues guys like B.B. King (though not as soulful), Muddy Waters, and Willie Dixon. It helps that the music they play is heavily blues influenced, but it took a while for me to get into it.

Oh, by the way, the first few albums they have released were played by two people--Dan Auerbach on guitars, Patrick Carney on drums. That's it, and yet they get this huge sound out of that setup. It's not a loud sound, just a pure sound infused with blues, soul, rock, and many other things. As their recordings have progressed, the depth in their songs has improved, but also the recording techniques have changed with the style they are trying to achieve, whether they are doing soul like "Everlasting Light" or doing the blues like "Girl Is on My Mind". This is a band evolving with each record.

So, like I said, I have only seen them perform live once, but something bothered me at the concert. I'm standing up, jamming to "Strange Times", and the people next to us get up and go to the concourse. "Strange Times" was the second song. Why? What about the first two songs turned them off? To tell you the truth, one look at them and I thought they were at the wrong concert. They're at a Kings of Leon/The Black Keys/The Whigs concert, but they looked like they meant to go to a 1986 Bon Jovi/Def Leppard concert. And the kicker is one of them said they "liked" the blues, whatever that meant. They barely got a taste yet quickly made an opinion. It's a shame, because I think they missed out.

Should I be mad about this? I want to spread the word that the Black Keys are a great band, but at the same time I want to keep them as my dirty little secret. But seriously, I think they're giving rock music a healthy injection of blues music that needs to come back. It seems like some of the popular music right now (outside of new country) is too electronic. Nobody's playing instruments anymore...they're pressing the "p" button on their iMacs and singing along. It just seems too easy when music is supposed to be complex (so to speak). Part of the reason I play guitar (or any instrument) is the challenge in learning and reproducing what I do. I'm not saying that computer music isn't music...it just feels like a cop out.

So anyway, I will conclude this rant by suggesting sincerely to check out the Black Keys. If you want one song to start, listen to "Tighten Up". Then check out "10 A.M. Automatic". You can't go wrong here.