This is an album by the Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers. It is the sixth studio album by The Black Keys. And with this studio album, The Black Keys seem to want to reinvent themselves a little bit. There was some personal beef between the two, stemming from a toxic relationship between Patrick Carney and his wife at the time and Carney took the anger out on Dan. 2009 was a rough year for the duo. Dan made a solo album which made Patrick angry, so Patrick briefly started his own band and made an album with them, and The Black Keys, as an entity, was on the brink. But somewhere along the way, they reconciled, they made a hip-hop record together with Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder, Damon Dash, and their relationship grew stronger for it, as strong as Brothers, so to speak. As for my own relationship with this album’s music, it started my love for The Black Keys. I discovered Tighten Up some 10 years ago through a beer commercial of all places, I really loved that song, so I checked it out, and the rest is history. Although, I have been chickening out on listening to Brothers front to back because I was scared it would be bad or at least meh. Partially because, my uncle, bless his heart, was also getting into the Black Keys at this time and listened to this album front to back. One day, he showed me a deeper cut on this very album, and I thought it was boring, which I put deep in the back of my mind for 10 years! That song was probably Sinister Kid, by the way, a song that I still, to this day, find to be a weaker track. But despite that one and a few other tracks that kind of fall flat, I really like this album. The production on here is nice and solid, and Dan Auerbach is clearly honing his producer skills. It has a dusty, gritty blues sound that is quintessential to the Black Keys’ identity. Speaking of sound, it consistently has a very nice, relaxed composition, which is likely what you want for a blues/garage rock record. Every element sounds pretty nice for the most part outside of a few minor bugs. But the true power of this album comes from it’s relaxed yet raw style, opening up a wide range of emotion. This is key to how this album works as Dan Auerbach’s vocals and lyrics are among the most passionate that I’ve heard from this group…ever. Dan’s soulful vocals paired with the classic, bluesy, simple songwriting style that sees all tracks essentially revolve around love. It may not be a grand album, but it’s a deeply passionate one, and they clearly wanted to break through together into the new decade with a bang, and that they did, both in matters of how this album catapulted them to mainstream success and what the album did to deserve that success. Best enjoyed with a classy alcoholic beverage.
PRODUCTION
Production is good. Mixing is solid. The bass sounds good, especially on Too Afraid to Love You with that creamy opening line. Everything from instruments to vocals is often caked in the fuzzy garage rock sound, which isn’t always my cup of tea, admittedly, but it adds character to this album. Guitars could be a little more powerful on Next Girl, but they’re still heavy, no doubt. They sound liquid with the solos on Black Mud, which really fits the vibe that The Black Keys are going for on Brothers. Drums sound great, especially those heavy toms on the closer, These Days. The handclaps themselves sound kind of thin to me, like stock claps. But other than that, this album has a heavy sound pretty much everywhere, but this album does not have an in-your-face sound, but more of a relaxed one, while still maintaining heaviness.
The album cover, like a lot of much older albums, has a thing that indicates that this album indeed has stereo sound, and lo and behold, it does have stereo sound. What it does with that stereo sound kind of harkens back to those older albums from say, the 60s. The instruments seem to hang out in either one channel or the other, especially guitars, with rhythm guitar in one ear and lead guitar in the other. The guitars themselves have just a bit of reverb from the amps to add some emphasis, which I really like. For a Black Keys album, Brothers is quite a flashy one, even though it’s pretty simple and subdued in the grand scale of rock music. Dan Auerbach clearly learned a lot from Keep it Hid, his solo project, because, man, this is the brightest I’ve heard the Black Keys yet. While it is a more simplistic production style, it seems that something clicked in The Black Keys that made them get some hi-fi production. It really shows progression from this album and I am here for it!
COMPOSITION
Instruments are crucial to building the vibe of this album. The bass is often super fuzzy, the fuzziest I’ve ever heard in a Black Keys record, such as on The Go Getter. It gives this record a grittier sound for a grittier Black Keys. It kind of reminds me of some Neutral Milk Hotel songs from the On Avery Island era, oddly enough, except on this album it’s far more relaxed and used better in my opinion. But clean bass makes an appearance on Tighten Up and it carries the whole song beautifully, in fact, there are a lot of places where clean bass helps to carry the song along, especially acting as a bed for guitars. Guitars have a gritty and a soft side too. Clean guitar is used for a variety of things, but usually melodies. When the solos come on, there are usually effects, such as on Tighten Up, She’s Long Gone and Black Mud that give it that liquid feeling, like oil or bourbon. Synthesizers give a little bit more of a haunting vibe on songs like The Go Getter and Too Afraid to Love You. I feel like the handclaps are a little cheesy, though. They would definitely use handclaps better in later projects. The drums are always clear and fit each song incredibly well, though. Aided by solid production, these drums are super tight and give this record a lot more power and a lot more bite. They singlehandedly make Sinister Kid tolerable with that driving groove.
Contrary to what Sinister Kid had me believe, this album’s structure is alright. Chord structure is simple, sometimes too simple for my tastes, but still good. These are blues rock songs through and through and that is both the blessing and the curse of the Black Keys. On one hand, I like the songs that harken way back into blues music and the aesthetic that come with it, but I feel they wear their influences on their sleeve a little too much. For example, the closer, These Days, sounds like it belongs on Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones more than it belongs on Brothers. I felt that The Black Keys could use just a little something more, not just on this album, but throughout their career, and that something more was cohesion. Brothers is pretty cohesive for a Black Keys record. It always has been a steady flow of blues rock songs from The Black Keys, but none quite like this. The front half is hit after hit after hit with Auerbach and Carney giving a clinic on how garage rock is done with songs that are solid with a little something extra whether in composition or lyrics. Tighten Up and The Only One sound too similar not to be related and I like how they connect to each other, at least compositionally. Damn, these songs are incredibly catchy, catchier than any Black Keys album prior to this. This album is giving Rubber Factory a run for its money because Brothers has a really defined, well-rounded, relaxed sound. While passionate, this album is relaxed in tone and it really threads that needle well.
LYRICS
Lyrics are what help this album to thread that needle, and it of course starts with Dan Auerbach. Dan Auerbach’s voice is pretty good and it really fits the blues style. There is kind of weird falsetto on Everlasting Light, I don’t believe I’ve heard Dan employ falsetto for basically a whole song, and I find it a little off for him. The “Shoo-shoo-shoo-wa”s on that song are pretty great though. His tenor vocals are the best thing here, as that seems to be his comfort zone, even as his register slowly climbs up. But the reason why I like him on Brothers is that he seems more passionate on any record I’ve heard from him before. A combination of the lyrics and how he’s singing them really sets up a nice atmosphere. He’s so passionate in his vocals that he sometimes blows out his already fuzzy sounding mic, which again, adds to the raw grittiness of this album. On Brothers, he seems to mean what he’s singing a lot more than previous Black Keys records which really kept my attention throughout.
Part of what keeps my attention are the words Dan is singing. Like I said, Brothers is by far the most cohesive Black Keys album I’ve taken a look at, or at least up until this point in their career. Like I said, these songs are simple. They’re not dense poetic writings, but they tell stories, and they tell them well. The Go Getter is a song about trying to make it in LA and failing while the city chews you up and spits you back out. These Days is also lamenting on the past. This album is definitely bringing the blues vibes with these melancholy themes. But what this song is really about is love. Again, unlike Sinister Kid, being an ambiguous bad boy song and a lyrical mess, this album is pretty cohesive with its theme of love. Sometimes it’s positive like memorializing Dan’s girlfriend’s dead brother on Unknown Brother or basically shooting your shot in song form in Everlasting Light. We get a nice, slick love song in Howlin’ For You as well. Sometimes, it’s negative, like pretty much every other song on this record. For example, some are pleading with the girl to not hurt him like Tighten Up, and staying in that toxic relationship like Never Gonna Give You Up (a cover of the Jerry Butler song called “Never Give You Up”, no, not that Never Gonna Give You Up, unfortunately). But a lot of these songs instead focus on defiance and brushing the dust off your shoulders. There are a few songs about coming out of a bad relationship such as Next Girl and She’s Long Gone as well as 10 Cent Pistol that describes a jealous lover attacking her boyfriend and his mistress with acid. But this album also shows the darker, more vulnerable side of that separation from a toxic relationship such as Too Afraid To Love You. It also helps that this record is a lot more cohesive than the average Black Keys record. You know exactly what this record is about and it is, in itself, an act of defiance against a toxic relationship. It was a hell of a year for the Black Keys before this record was released and this feels like the band is getting out that anger and sadness out in album form in a way we’ve never seen before from them. I’m kind of floored by that emotional response. I didn’t know The Keys had it in them, but this is a pleasant surprise.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this album is better than I expected, why was I so afraid in the first place? In fact, it’s one of the better Black Keys albums I’ve listened to and reviewed thus far and it really shows the band’s progression throughout their career. The Black Keys really up their production game this time around with hi-fi instruments with a lo-fi filter to add a distinct character to this album. It has that old-timey basic stereo sound, but it definitely works for an album that is going for that vibe. The vibe is gritty yet laid back from an instrumental standpoint. Guitars and bass get both clean and gritty and they do both well in the background and as melody. Drums are super tight all the time, no question, love it. Good job, Patrick Carney, you knocked it out of the park with this one! What’s also super tight is the cohesion of this album from a compositional standpoint with its steady stream of blues and garage rock. A slight problem with the album is that it tries a little too hard to emulate its influences, and I wish the Black Keys tried a little harder to make their own sound. But beyond that, I like it. They are 15 simple songs, but they are really effective in their raw yet laid-back simplicity. Speaking of raw, Dan Auerbach’s vocals are the most passionate I’ve ever heard in a Black Keys record. He’s super visceral from track to track and the more passionate he gets, the better this album becomes. And not only does he make the album a little more complex in how it’s constructed, but you can tell that Dan means what he’s singing about. The cohesion from the composition bleeds into the lyrics as well. It’s the first Black Keys record that I can justifiably say is about something, with songs about love and often the woes that come with it. This album is raw and emotionally impactful, but with a blues/garage rock edge to cool things off. Remember the alcoholic beverage I was talking about? This album conjures an image of someone drinking a smooth liquor both because they enjoy it, but also because they’re sad. As for the guys who made this record, they came out of their dark places with a bang that turned them into superstars. If there was any record for the Black Keys to break out with, I’m honestly glad it was this one.
I’m giving this one a Decent 8/10.
FAVOURITE TRACKS: Next Girl, Tighten Up, Howlin’ For You, She’s Long Gone, Black Mud, The Only One, Too Afraid To Love You, 10 Cent Pistol, The Go Getter, I’m Not The One, Unknown Brother
LEAST FAVOURITE TRACK: Sinister Kid
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