The Black Keys - El Camino
- Dec 30, 2011
Easily lumped into the pile of turn of the decade bands who hit the big time on the back of the garage rock wave, The Black Keys are one of the few bands to still prove their worth.
Compared endlessly to now defunct bands the duo, comprised of guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, turned to Nashville, Tennessee from their native Ohio to record their seventh album 'El Camino'.
An altogether spunky and high spirited affair 'El Camino' opens with the rowdy 'Lonely Boy'. Accompanied by a video showcasing a middle aged, black office worker doing his best Saturday night club dance, 'Lonely Boy' is the rowdiest track on the album, inducing at least a head bop along at every listen.
'Run Right Back' is a slower and more seductively paced affair with a singing guitar rift of such proportions it will whirl around in your mind as much as the ex flame the song speaks of. An underlying theme of love lost is carried through on 'Little Black Submarines', starting out as a slow acoustic ballad before snapping into a fiery symphony of scuzzy guitar and spitting drum beats.
An epic album in its entirety, 'El Camino' struggles to engage on 'Hell Of A Season' while closing tracks 'Nova Baby' and 'Mind Eraser' are fresher and more laid back in the company of the other full throttle noise conjured throughout the rest of the album.
While at times a raw offering, The Black Keys have produced an album with tracks sure to get those dancing in clubs with sticky floors alongside others which will be cherished more wholly.
Having just sold out three nights in a row at the humungous Alexandra Palace, London in February, and over two million records sold world wide, The Black Keys prove that rock and roll is still very much alive within a band of over 10 years at their best.
Robyn Lynch
