Categories : Jazz + Blues, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Trent Depue |
An interesting ring of top-tier musicians has made a Top Five Records of May 2010 list alone is a matter worthy of attention and debate. The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are among this group, and as one would expect, they do a hell of a job holding their own on Brothers.
From a purely superficial stand point, one could feel completely justified in purchasing this record on the merits of the album art alone. And in this case, judging a book by its (awesome) cover holds true. The Black Keys have created for themselves, a distinctive and immediately recognizable blues-rock sound – a sound that has been evolving from record to record and culminating in this fantastic showing. Captivating from the opening tones of ‘Everlasting Love,’ the record maintains a constant level of intensity, at no point allowing the listener to lose interest.
The definitive highlight comes from the instantly likable ‘Howlin’ For You,’ a track that is right at home in early song of the year debates. While ‘The Only One,’ ‘Too Afraid to Love You,’ ‘I’m Not the One’ and a cover of Jerry Butlers ‘60s hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ all provide fantastic high points amongst an already great record. Suffice it to say, if The Black Keys carry on in this trend of continuous improvement, the sky’s the limit for them, if they aren’t already there.
