The Black Keys:Attack And Release!

YippY! ThE BlaCk kEyS HaVe JUsT cOmE OuT WitH,
'ATtaCk
& REleASe"...

... and I loved it.

There are very few music groups-now-a-days-that I get excited about releasing a new Lp,but I was so excited about the new Black Keys release that I could hardly sleep the night before it came out....

...and i loved it.

I wondered if they would stray far from their roots[or not far enough] when they got mega producer,Danger Mouse,to motivate them.Alas,no need to worry.This is The Black Keys best cd yet.

Growth...it's funny how by just tweaking their sound a little bit here and a little bit there,The Black Keys have added just the right amount of new soul to their sound .

A banjo here(Psychotic Girl),a flute there(Same Old thing),a duet(Things Ain't Like They used To Be),a little bit of background chanting(I Got Mine/Strange Times),an organ(Things),a second guitar(Lies/So He won't Break) etc,etc and so forth.

And yet...still so much like the freakin' great Black Keys.

New players besides Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney include Ralph Carney.Ralph is Patrick's uncle and has played with a ton of groups...including Tom Waits,Elvis Costello,Tin Huey and one of my all time favorite band's,Kent,Ohio's own,'The Waitresses.He add's-at least-the clarinet on,'Remember When' and the Tull like flute on,'Same Old Things'.Great stuff.

Another Waits/Costello alumni on,'Attack & Release' is guitarist Marc Ribot.Listen to his work on,'Lies' and 'So He Won't Break'.

On,'Things Ain't Like They Used To Be',Dan even sings a duet with another Kent,Ohio product,18 year old blue grass singer, Jessica Lea Mayfield.Take a listen...

...I loved it.

The heavily produced by Danger Mouse single,'Strange Times' fits in with the rest of the Lp perfectly.This is the Black Keys,baby.Ditto,'I Got Mine'.

Perhaps my favorite song is,'Psychotic Girl'.With it's piano and banjo backing,this is a very smooth groove.It almost seems to come from some demented western..hmmm..perhaps from 'The Dark Tower',say,'The Gunslinger'.This song is the bomb.

On the album,the softer,'Remember When(Side A)' is on side A,and the more jamming 'Remember When(side B)' is actually on Side B.Either way...very enjoyable.

'Same Old thing' is another favorite.Flute,man!Rockin flute!This ain't the same old thing...yet,it is.

'Oceans and Streams' should be a radio staple.It sounds like sonar love.'All I Ever Wanted',starts off both the cd and the Lp.It is a mostly acoustic blues tune.But a nice beginning.

The Black Key's:"Attack & Release...

YippY!