Mashed Potatoes in Cellophane

Hello friends,

The Constable is a man of many obsessions, some long term and some brief and intense, the details of which, he will spare you...  And now that I have switched from the third person, I bestow upon you the latest of such obsessions:  The Black Keys.

Without boring you with too much of my personal history, I have to say that there have been a few musicians or groups in my life that struck me with an urgent desire to know as much about them and obtain as much of their music as I could.  We've all had that moment of "stop right there, who is this, and what was life like before I heard them," and I had one of these moments with these two gentlemen from Akron Ohio (home of Chrissie Hynde and Devo, whether that's a good thing or not I leave up to the reader, Me?  I'm a fan yes why not).  As a musician, I started in one direction and arrive at forks in the road where a group or artist is standing there, pointing me down another road or in another direction.  I got on the road with Eric Clapton, made a left at Pink Floyd, was ordered to slow down and yield by Howlin' Wolf, and now have stopped at a greasy diner on the side of the road taking in this group.  I admit my chronology is a bit warped, but that's how we discover a lot of music.  Find someone that you enjoy, find their influences, go backwards, etc. etc. blather, blather. 

Anyway, these guys, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, hit me like a brick in the face.  Many of you may remember and relate to when Nirvana came on the scene, and suddenly all the hairspray in the world couldn't stem the transition away from glam-rock stylings to the straight meat and potatoes approach of a revitalized Punk music.  I had a similar epifany to an extent with regards to this music.  The Black Keys, to me at least, represent a kind of intensity and reality, a "down to earth" kind of feel.  They mainly record analog and they have a great rawness to them and a deepy deepy soul thing going.  It's not blues, it's not rock, it's not soul, it's not indie.  It's all of those and none.  I can't put a finger on it really, which may be part of the allure.  Their rhythms are driving and mezmerizing, the melodies are simply haunting, and the music is complicatedly simplistic (see what I did there).

I've hoarded only three of their albums so far, and mostly I want this blog to feature local or regional talent and not so much just kiss the a** of famous people that don't give a rats arse about my review, but these guys, as Van Morrison might say, they stoned me.  I must...  blog...  The first album I managed to get my hands on was Brothers (2010) which is the album that broke them through and got them radio play.  "She's Long Gone" and "These Days" are two of my favorites here but the whole album is great.  It's one of those where you never have to say, "Eh, where's the skip button? How inconvenient that I have to get out of the shower, drip all over the damn place walking over to the $20.00 boom box I brought into the bathroom and placed on the counter after pushing all the various shaving equipment and face creams out of the way, and hit the skip button..."  Yes, that scenario will not occur with this album. 

As with a lot of my music, I work my way backwards.  The next album I managed to snag was Magic Potion (2006).  More magical things on this one too.  (Ha, play on words number 2 for those keeping track.  It's horrible) "Strange Desire" and "Goodbye Babylon" are excellent here.  Great, immediate, and raucus guitar.  Auerbach's tone is fantastic.  He gets a great reverby, nasty, fuzz-faced, driving sound.  (these are all technical guitar player terms of course)

These guys have a great range of influences from the hypnotic bluesman Junior Kimbrough (check him out, "Sad Days, Lonely Nights" and "Lord Have Mercy on Me," if you love the Black Keys, you WILL love Junior) and his contemporary R.L. Burnside, to Linkwray and Captain Beefheart, and everything else from bluegrass to hip hop.  From interviews I've seen, they are also a fan of fast food, but who is not.

Bottom line: I love this band, I will be hoarding their material and obsession over it for a while and emerge from within my inner sanctum (office) a better human being for it. 

Keep on keepin' on dear friends.