BLACK KEYS – Rubber Factory (Fat Possum)
The Black Keys were introduced to me by the late, great and much lamented John Peel, who championed the band back in the summer of 2004. Their album should have come out last September, but delays led to it finally appearing late last year, and from the tracks that I had heard in session and on the show I was expecting great things. The duo of Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach certainly kick up a storm, and in most cases you would swear that there was a full band on show here. With the pair of them writing most of their own material, apart from a brace of songs including a well judged cover of Ray Davies’ ‘Act Nice And Gentle’, they have complete control over their music, and can express their love of rock and blues in their own way. ‘When The Lights Go Out’ opens proceedings with one of their slower songs, but it is when ‘10 A.M. Automatic’ kicks off that I get to hear the band that I was expecting. Auerbach’s vocal style always reminded me of James Dewar, the singer in Robin Trower’s band (only fans of 70’s rock will get the reference), but it is a great, bluesy voice which just adds to the feel of the songs. ‘Just Couldn’t Tie Me Down’ is a classy blues riff hitched to an impassioned vocal which would not sound out of place on a John Mayall album. ‘Girl Is On My Mind’ is one of the tracks which encouraged me to get the album, and its slightly more commercial R’n’B stylings could get it some airplay in the right quarters. Robert Pete Williams’ ‘Grown So Ugly’ is given a down and dirty treatment, while their own ‘Aeroplane Blues’ blends the blues with some heavy rock guitar, and ‘Till I Get My Way’ closes the album with a fine fuzz-laden rocker. This emphasises exactly the sort of thing that I will miss so much about John Peel – I would never have got to hear about this great band without him, and I am already finding it difficult to hear these new bands which I read so much about, having to buy a lot of these albums after hearing just one song on some TV show. R.I.P. John.