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EDIT INFOThe Black Keys - El Camino
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Album Details
- Artist: The Black Keys
- Album: El Camino
- Label: Nonesuch
- Year of Release: 2011
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: MusicCritic on 2011-12-08
RecommendSomehow—and likely this is a larger question of music history in general—the blues seem to transcend trend and popularity, bringing The Black Keys with them. It further seems that no matter the state of pop music, no matter what is crazy, popular and floating all over the internet, The Black Keys continue to rise above it—to rise above ever-present and pervasive trite crap.
El Camino is nothing shy of brilliant: blues at its absolute moodiest, its absolute sexiest and its absolute bluesiest. El Camino is sad and ponderous and full of deadly passion. Together with producer Danger Mouse, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have created a slick, surprisingly nuanced and occasionally delicate album.
The only downside of this release—and this is minor at most—is that El Camino lacks a certain “something” in comparison to 2010’s Brothers. Where El Camino is balls-to-the-wall heart and rock, it lacks a subtle sultriness that Brothers had in spades.
‘Little Black Submarine’ is a truly heartbreaking song, and one of the album’s best (with ‘Run Right Back’ and ‘Hell of a Season’ also kicking some pretty serious ass). Auerbach’s near pitch perfect voice rings with brutal honesty: Everybody knows that a broken heart is blind…” Almost inexplicably it is here that Danger Mouse’s true talent as a producer shines through; he manages to make Auerbach and Carney, already soulful, sparkle and twitch with emotional delicacy.
The biggest highlight of El Camino (and perhaps the true test of a cohesive record) is the striking transition between each song. It’s as if each song answers the question posed in the one before. And the album opener, 'Lonely Boy' asks the first…
Who are we when we’re left all alone?
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on 2012-03-15 CharlesMartel Said:
When good old garage rock revival meets one of the most versatile and acclaimed producers of his age, Danger Mouse, you have a right to expect something special. For fans of the Black Keys, I have no doubt that "El Camino" is exactly that. Even the name, that of a long running series of people carriers, has that feel about it. This is an album which steams of the American blue collar workers and follows in the footsteps of Bruce Springsteen in that regard, though I have to say, without the political edge or the pretensions to Arena Rock.
Despite the Black Keys' reputation, " El Camino " has less blues rock and derives its infulences from a wider spectrum of American music including rockabilly, soul and R&B. As a result, this is an album which has a greater depth and completeness to it than anything the band have done before. The result is an album which is both conventional and original, something which has an appeal despite the largely retro ambience about it.
In a year when there was a considerable degree of interest in albums from the more esoteric side of music ranging from avant garde jazz through to weird and undefinable futuristic psychedelic garage shit, neither of which I could really wrap my head around, " El Camino" comes as something of a relief. The album knocks anything done by the Strokes or the White Stripes, who share the same or similar musical influences and sounds, into a cocked hat.
The opening track is one with which many will be familiar, their single from the album, " Lonely Boy" . This establishes a pace and tempo which is kept up for the duration of the first three tracks before the Black Keys move into more soulful territory with " Little Black Submarine" . If the album has a weak point is around this middle section which does feel somewhat out of place with the rest of the album and, in all honesty, does drag a little. From that point, however, the album seems to get back on track with "Sister" and continues for the remainder of the album.
By the time you reach " Mind Eraser" , the closing track, you feel as if you are left wanting more. But there is no more and so you are more than likely to start again from the beginning. Now that is surely the mark of a fine record. What makes the album work is that the Black Keys have put back into their music some good honest old fashioned fun. This record would not be out of place at any party. That is a welcome change from the dreary over-seriousness that some of their aforementioned fellow garagers have adopted. The songs are catchy and keep up a pace (the start of "Little Black Submarines" excepted) which is just right to keep the feet tapping.
Whether the Black Keys will be able to repeat this, I am not sure. There are inherent limitations to the style of music they play and I have the feeling that they may have reached the edge of those limitations with "El Camino" . This may well be the finest record the Black Keys are ever going to produce and so it is something of a milestone in that regard. And amid the largely formless direction some music seems to be taking lately, its back to basics rock and roll is something quite refreshing.
Rating: 8/10
