[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

 

The Black Keys
Attack & Release






The Black Keys seemed doomed to linger in the long, black-and-red shadow of the White Stripes. That's perhaps unfair: Akron's Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have perfected their own brand of Delta-tinged, garage minimalism. But after four albums, even they seemed to realize they had hit a creative wall. Luckily, in 2007, they were tapped by producer Danger Mouse for a collaboration with Ike Turner, though when he passed away last December, the project left the duo with a host of material. This became the foundation of their fifth and most adventurous album to date. Maneuvering between the King of Rhythm's joie de vivre and their crestfallen, crossroads-blues heritage, Attack and Release subtly expands the Black Keys sound.
An auteur raised on hip-hop, DM keeps the record from staying overly loyal to the Creedence or Free templates. This is a small but crucial difference from 2006's Magic Potion. He colors the band's no-frills narratives with futuristic accents or, on the opposite end, rural flourishes of psychedelia and folk. On each track they add a bolt of surprise that amplifies the pitch-black mood and message. Take the flutes and feedback of "Same Old Thing", which in combination suggest a childlike innocence peeled away by a cold, indifferent world. Likewise, a tension opens between the peppy xylophone and world-weary, Waitsian tremolo on "So He Won't Break". Longtime Waits and Elvis Costello guitarist Marc Ribot lends his powers to this song and to the anguished 6/8 masterpiece "Lies". Here (and elsewhere: "Psychotic Girl", "I Got Mine", "Strange Times") Danger Mouse's layer of backing vocals imbue these earthly stories with a beyond-the-grave air, taking lost-love themes to an eerily literal but quintessentially blues-y level. The unexpected organ line of "All You Ever Wanted" feels like a police ambush on this jilted-John ballad. We almost forget that, in light of the band's uniformly lo-fi discography, nearly every fresh sound on Attack & Release should strike us as alien.
A sequence of slow burns, the record's tempos allow you to relish the details and the textures. "Remember When (Side A)", with its eddies of reverb, envisions nostalgia as something dim and meticulously crafted, with a touch of the fantastic. Speaking of the past, the raw, amplified wallop of the Black Keys' old days is still here, too. Given that Ike Turner was partly responsible for rock'n'roll's love affair with distortion, it would have been wrong for Attack & Release to discard fuzzy riffs. The other side of "Remember When" will sooth anyone longing for their sinewy Nuggets rave-ups. Fans of previous BK records will find this song and the first single, "Strange Times", the bluntest weapons here.
"Things Ain't Like They Used to Be" leads the album to a grim finish. Auerbach's sluggish, hung-over melodies, echoed by teenage protégé Jessica Lea Mayfield's distant singing, carry an air of defeat. Addressed to an old lover, the lyrics describe a happier past, overgrown yards, a man blindly walking into battles, and other ingredients of lament. Yet Carney and Auerbach know that there's more to the blues than bad news. These men are stoics to the fingertips. "It doesn't mean a thing to me," Auerbach repeats on the chorus. The jaded ex of "Same Old Thing" speaks the same language: "It don't matter where you been." We know better.

— Roque Strew, April 1, 2008



All You Ever Wanted


Lies
THings Ain't Like They Used To Be
I Got Mine
Strange Times
Remember When (Side A)
Same Old Thing

1. All You Ever Wanted
2. I Got Mine
3. Strange Times
4. Psychotic Girl
5. Lies
6. Remember When (Side A)
7. Remember When (Side B)
8. Same Old Thing
9. So He Won't Break
10. Oceans & Streams
11. Things Ain't Like They Used to Be

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

I never liked the black keys. I have seen them play twice, and I was not really into what they were doing. It was not really bad, just not my thing. But then this record came out.. and it punched me in the face!

the more I listen to it, the more I am in love with it. It is one of the most perfect, shining albums I have ever heard. It captures the essense of fucking every kind of of bad ass music from the past fifty years, effortlessly, flawlessly, with all the necessary attitude and emotion. It is by far an authentic and original album.. I just couldn't expect it from them from what I have heard in the past.

These tunes shift from the vibes of Pigpen of the Dead through Otis Redding to early Black Sabbath and even James Brown! fucking intense record if I ever heard one..

anyone else diggin it, especially as an introduction to the black keys?

[vulva]

I've always hated this band

[automatic bzooty]

I dislike this band immensely.

... but I'm a massive White Stripes fan, so I shouldn't be talkin', really.

[loubarret]

Never really cared about them.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by loubarret

Never really cared about them.

Originally Posted by vulva

I've always hated this band

Originally Posted by automatic bzooty

I dislike this band immensely.

... but I'm a massive White Stripes fan, so I shouldn't be talkin', really.

I agree with you all entirely, I also can not stand this group previously, and as I said above, I have seen them perform twice as opening acts, and did not like their stage show, or their albums.. but then this one came out, my pops shot it to me, and I adore it. trust me, y'all should check it out, its not like the Black Keys before (who sucked), it is a new black keys, that fucking rocks and blew away my music snob mentality towards them! I am definitely glad that I gave this album a chance and that is why it has made it up to my Must-Haves list

[PAULYBEE2656]

never a fan, never liked them..all beards and topshop flannel shirts, patchouli oil and sandal wearing stuff.... dont ask, its my genre destroying wit... but this a;bum has its moments of brilliance and therefore deserves not to be flung at the neighbours dog who at this moment in time is shitting a load on my freshly cut grass the fucking bastard!!!!!!!!

[Derek]

paulybee for president of the world

[o'connor]

lies is an awesome song.

[Sonic Youth 37]

Originally Posted by automatic bzooty

I dislike this band immensely.

... but I'm a massive White Stripes fan, so I shouldn't be talkin', really.

Replace "massive" with "big as far as the 1st 4 albums are concered" and this is me.

I hate the Black Keys on 2 basic principles: 1) when they played here last year, the street team put about 10,000 stickers of that album cover everywhere. Most of them linger still and 2) that beard is fucking ridic.

[automatic bzooty]

Originally Posted by Sonic Youth 37

Replace "massive" with "big as far as the 1st 4 albums are concered" and this is me.

yeah, they were golden through elephant. i can't really be bothered with their last two albums; i won't wade through all the stupid songs to get to the few good ones. though i will still be all over whatever jack white does, at least for a few test run listens.

i mean, erm, yeah... so... them black keys... they sure are on topic!