Spartan Daily

Black Keys keep chugging with "El Camino"

Wesley Dugle, Spartan Daily

The Black Keys released their seventh album “El Camino” on Dec. 6. Photo courtesy of theblackkeys.com

The Black Keys are back with their grungy blues rock sound with the band’s seventh album, “El Camino.”

The 11 track album released Dec. 6th, continues their sound of gritty down and dirty genuine rock 'n' roll, while tweaking the routine with a feeling of 70’s twang.

With a touch of wah-wah pedals, bells and a bit of organ, The Black Keys have moved from purely howling guitar riffs and drums to a symphony of soul-laden jams.

The Black Keys are made up of two longtime friends from Akron, Ohio, vocalist and guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney.

While the group had been hanging in the background of the alternative music scene, they experienced a surge of popularity with their previous album “Brothers,” which went gold in the U.S. and platinum in Canada.

One of my favorite things about The Black Keys is their never-changing sound of Blues inspired rock.

Since their first album “The Big Come Up” in 2002, the band has held on to the unique sound of Aeurbach's  howling, mouth-full-of-marbles vocals and crunchy guitar riffs combined with Carney's  tight, snappy drumming.

“El Camino” sounds like it picks up right where “Brothers” left off with the same frustrated anthems to old girlfriends and catchy guitar strumming.

Auerbach must have had some pretty awful relationships as many of the Black Key's songs revolve around him howling out lyrics of mended hearts and ex-love affairs.

Their new single, “Lonely Boy,” begins with a lightning guitar intro and jumping organ before Auerbach comes in with “Well I'm so above you /And it's fine to see/ But I came to love you anyway/ So you tore my heart out /And I don't mind bleeding / Any old time to keep me waiting.”

The rock love letter is right out of the book of past singles such as last year’s popular track “Tighten Up.”

The next track, “Dead and Gone,” begins with a deep fuzzy sounding guitar upbeat before a chorus of sleigh bells and backup singers join Auerbach in another soulful love song.

My favorite new track so far, “Gold on The Ceiling,” which the band performed this weekend on Saturday Night Live, starts with a wailing guitar with a heavily distorted organ for the background upbeat that feels fit for a road trip anthem.

“Run Right Back,” which the band made available before the album released, is another love ballad put to the tune of twangy guitar solos and Auerbach’s lyrics of  “She's the worst thing / I've been addicted to / I run right back / Run right back to her.”

“Stop Stop” brings back the album’s recurring sound of bells and background singers with the sound of an intro to a 1970s T.V. action series, complete with a melting guitar solo with heavy wah-wah effect.

“Nova Baby” sounds the least like previous Black Keys tracks with its upbeat sound of synthesizers and snappy drumming, completely missing the trademark Auerbach guitar grinding save for some up-strumming.

At its core, however, the track is all Black Keys with Auerbach singing, “All this love is mine / All my precious time / You've waste it cause you / Don’t know what you want.”

Among all the hard-hitting, muddy guitar sounds and heartbroken lyrics is “El Camino's” slower track, “Little Black Submarines.”

The song begins with just Auerbach slowly picking away on an acoustic guitar, again telling of a long lost romantic partner.

The song has a strangely familiar sound to Led Zeppelins “Stairway to Heaven,” not only in similar chord progression but composition.

Just as you expect the track to finish with Auerbach slowly strumming to an end, he cuts in with electric strumming and picks up with a hard and loud return to chorus before the tracks end.

“El Camino” is a continued improvement of The Black Keys discography.

After putting out such a strong and popular album with “Brothers,” I worried they would fall flat as they tried an “experimental phase.”

Not the case.

Auerbach and Carney have stuck to their formula that has produced album after album of hard hitting fun rock music that sounds nothing like any other popular music.

With soul and lots of heart in each track, “El Camino” will keep me tapping my toes to The Black Keys.