The cover of The Black Keys’ new album Brothers is a straight forward explanation of what you’re holding in your hand. The words “This is an album by The Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers,” emblazons the front cover. The back cover and the inside fold out of the disc is filled with explanations on just what it is you’re looking at. Whether the band chose the artwork as a nod to blues godfather Howlin’ Wolf who released similar artwork for a 1969 album or whether it’s a satirical jab at the fact that people no longer buy compact discs and thus actually need to be told what it is they have just purchased - is up for debate. What is less debatable though is that if you haven’t purchased a CD in some time, Brothers may very well be the one album this year worth buying a physical copy of.
When the band released the psychedelic fueled, Danger Mouse produced Attack & Release two years ago, it showed that the band had finally decided to break away from their tried and true formula. The amped up production and the experimentation with new sounds left Attack & Release as a sort of black sheep among the catalog of strong albums released by the duo over that past eight years. On the follow up, The Black Keys have managed to take what was good from their last album and mix it with what was amazing on some of their past albums. Brothers is soulful and psychedelic and yet still bluesy and folksy. It shows frontman Dan Auerbach writing some of his most witty and interesting lyrics and also, best of all, it showcases the return of Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney’s dynamic immediacy. Rather than crafting dreary psychedelic soundscapes, Brothers focuses more on the each gritty hand crafted song.
The amount of great memorable songs on Brothers is easily of a greater ratio than that on any previous Black Keys album. Rather than crafting an album that’s cohesive and similar in sound from one song to the next, this album leaves us with a collection of individually unique compositions, focusing less on the overall sound of the album and putting more emphasis on each individual track. Starting with the Motown soul of album opener “Everlasting Light” and followed by the sing along chorus of the menacing “Next Girl,” it’s easy to see that the Keys are weaving gold on Brothers. “Tighten Up” is the album’s first single, a whistle-happy, radio-ready jewel that gives Auerbach a perfect platform to show off his soulful echoed howl. Some of the most enjoyable tracks on the album are the ones in which Auerbach crafts a story, which is something that we saw little of from him in the past. “Ten Cent Pistol” sets the table with a slow, smoky blues riff and then recalls a tale that is summed up by the line, “There’s nothing worse in this world than payback from a jealous girl.”
On “I’m Not the One,” the band creates a palpable blues rock track, slow, skuzzy and dripping with heart break. The band even takes on soul singer Jerry Butler’s “Never Give You Up” aptly renamed “Never Gonna Give You Up,” seeing as how the band so completely and utterly makes it their own. The album does drag a bit, 15 songs and clocking in at over 55 minutes is a bit long, but Brothers is so filled with memorable tracks that it’s hard to complain too much. Is there really such thing as too much of a good thing? The album ends with the slow and smooth “These Days,” perfectly exemplifying how seamlessly the band goes from raucous rock songs to dreamy slow dancers.
For those who had doubts about what direction The Black Keys would take after Attack & Release, you should be enthralled with Brothers. The band does what they’ve done best in the past, only better. On Brothers the band continues to experiment, they rock, they do justice to ‘60s soul and they stay largely rooted in the delta blues. The duo of Auerbach and Carney, who are nearing nearly a decade of playing together, have assembled their finest collection of songs to date. So I urge everyone to listen to this fantastic album and for those who no longer purchase physical copies of CDs, I recommend that you go out and purchase Brothers; not only because so far it is my favorite album of 2010, but also because if you buy the CD you get a pretty cool poster. You’re welcome.
"Brothers" is on sale May 18, 2010 from Nonesuch.
