For their fourth full-length album Magic Potion, the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney continue to lay claim to their titles as some of the best interpreters of classic blues/funk on the scene. If Australia’s Wolfmother is helping Led Zeppelin ring up more copies of IV than usual, then the Black Keys must be doing the same if not more for Jimi Hendrix’ Electric Ladyland. Hendrix could bend a guitar string and make it wail like a banshee and while singer/guitarist Auerbach of the Black Keys may not have the same innate skill with an axe, he still knows how to make a guitar sing.
Where this duo really shines though is in the meeting and marrying of Auerbach’s killer blues vocals with drummer Carney’s strong driving beats. The track “Modern Times” chugs along with not only attitude, but grace as well. Bu,t if you’re really looking to go on a musical ride, then you’ll want to play the hypnotic “Elevator” over and over again. Auberbach tows the line, singing “if I get seasick on dry land”, but the musical acrobats here are all in the arrangement. The music rolls, rises and dips like waves, crashing and retreating in a powerful rhythmic fashion.
The Black Keys aren’t all about tricks though. They can keep things minimalist and still cast one hell of a spell. The blues spiritual “Goodbye Babylon” features what has to be some of the best bare bones drumming in a long long time. Carney takes the lead on this one, keeping the rhythm center stage as Auberbach wisely weaves in his vocals and then gets out of the way of the beat.
If you’re looking for some blissfully heavy riffs and beats, you couldn’t do better than Magic Potion. Pick it up! |