Album Review- The Black Keys "El Camino"

Back when I first saw the Black Keys in 2004, they came out of the garage rock era that housed 20,000 other bands trying to pull off a similar sound. But what stood out about the band was the fact that they didn’t try and pull of that disinterested cool look like The Strokes did, or didn’t need five guys to pull off that sound. The duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney showed a lot of vigor and pulled off a big live sound with just themselves and proved to be a force to be reckoned with. But, I never, ever suspected the band would get as big as they have.

On their seventh album, “El Camino”, the band re-enlisted Danger Mouse (who produced the stellar 2008 album “Attack and Release”) for perhaps an even bigger sounding album than that one. Most of the bluesy material from their still pretty damn good 2010 album “Brothers” and brings back the heavier drum sound and quick strike method of songs that might have been missing on the previous album.

Yes, look no further than the first single “Lonely Boy” for the best indication of the band getting back into that groove again. But where the album really excels are on tracks like “Gold on the Ceiling” and “Money Maker”- which blends the bluesy and garage rock sounds together to it’s full effect.

When listening to “El Camino”, you get the feeling that the band’s move from Akron, Ohio to Nashville has influenced the band just a little bit. There is a lot more southern rock influence on this album, but obviously steers clear of the rebel flag and pickup truck mantra of some of that music. Auerbach and Carney seem to have more fun on this album than on “Brothers” and the loose nature of the album can be seen.

Back when I saw them in 2004 (and have seen them several times since), they seemed like the last band that would ever headline an arena tour. At the time, perhaps they could open for someone bigger, but I never thought they would be the huge stars they are becoming. But “El Camino” is another good indication that the band can be minimalist and large sounding at the same time and shows that they are the one band that can bring indie snobs, critics and casual listeners all together in the same place.

P.S.: Hey guys, the van on the cover isn’t an old El Camino, it’s a s---box 1990-something Chrysler Town & Country that looks like what I used to get driven to the movies to when I was a teenager. I just had to be a jerk and I’ll shut up now.