While the vast majority of post-punk bands who have an obvious taste for the blues seem to enjoy taking the style apart and messing around with the bits and pieces,
the Black Keys are the (relative) traditionalists within the subgenre. With their two-piece, no-bass format, there's no room for clutter or wank, and the raunchy fuzz of
Dan Auerbach's guitar (and drummer Patrick Carney's production) owes more to the
Gories/Blues Explosion/
White Stripes school of aural grime than anything else, but look past all that and
the Black Keys are a straight-up blues band who could probably cut an album for Alligator if they were willing to clean up their act and fill out the lineup. And Alligator would doubtless be glad to have 'em --
the Black Keys's wail is hot, primal, and heartfelt, and
Auerback's lean but meaty guitar lines and room-filling vocals drag the blues into the 21st century through sheer force of will without sounding like these guys are in any way mocking their influences. In short, if you're looking for irony, you're out of luck; if you want to hear a rock band confront the blues with soul, muscle, and respect, then
Thickfreakness is right up your alley. Points added for the fact that
the Black Keys performed, recorded, and produced
Thickfreakness all by their lonesome in a single day -- further proof these guys are not messing around. [
Thickfreakness was re-released on LP in 2015.] ~ Mark Deming