They’ve made six albums in eight years, they’ve got the hippest fanclub on the planet (Robert Plant, Josh Homme, Thom Yorke, I could go on…), and their tunes have featured on more American prime time shows than Gary Coleman. And yet The Black Keys remain in the colossal shadow of another guitar and drum duo, The White Stripes. Don’t get me wrong, Carney and Auerbach have always been hugely capable in their chosen area of rollicking Midwestern blues. However, they’ve seldom been truly memorable. Brothers is the record to change all that.
This genre-hopping LP clocks in at an hour. Totalling 15 tracks (put down your calculators, it works out to average of 3 minutes and 42 seconds), the whole thing’s refreshingly snappy, each song flourishing with a unique secret weapon. ‘I’m Not The One’ offers straight-up soul; ‘Next Girl’, an empowering premise; ‘Too Afraid To Love You’, some trippy harpsichord and ‘Unknown Brother’, a rather funky sleigh-bell basement.
Boogie, soul, instrumental rock and disco are all carried off with surprising mastery. On the other hand, alas, Brothers isn’t terribly cohesive.
But less about what it ain’t and more about what it am. Album number eight is big on hooks and bigger on songwriting. Dan Aeurbach justifies creamy lines like “My heart remains lovin’ you, baby child” by always following them up with something a bit more reckless (in this case,”Tighten up on your reins, you’re running wild”). As for the Ohio lad’s quaking vocals, at times, you feel like one more note could ravage his falsetto completely; at others, you’re fully confident he could hit any note in the stratosphere, which, all in all, makes for a very pleasing contrast.
Highlights include smooth instrumental piece ‘Black Mud’ and the irresistibly brash guitars on ‘Howlin’ For You’, while at the other end of the blues spectrum, ‘The Only One’ boasts an endearing innocence reminiscent off The Ronettes.
More than just a worthwhile advance on 2008’s Danger Mouse-produced Attack And Release, Brothers is a wonderfully warped and eclectic collection of songs. Heed my words: Black is the new White.
Key Track: ‘Tighten Up’