It seems like everything is based on a formula these days. The Black Keys have relied upon the same formula for all of their albums. It’s something like 1/2 cup bluesy riffs, 1/4 cup bluesy vocals, 10 ounces of bluesy lyrical themes and turn the volume up to ten. As someone who was taught guitar via old Delta and early electric blues artists, that’s a winning formula. The question is, how long can you record music with the same formula and still keep your material interesting?
The Black Keys might find the answer is “about six or seven albums.” (El Camino is their seventh.) This is an enjoyable effort. It has all the right riffs, the right tempo, the right selection of song as number one and number two singles. And with Danger Mouse once again in the producer’s chair, there’s no need to worry about the Keys releasing a technically imperfect record. So why am I feeling unimpressed by this album, if it has all these things in its favor?
Maybe it’s because I could tell there would be no bold experimentation or anything noticeably different about any of the songs by the time I was a quarter of the way through the second track. Like I told my frieditor (totally taking credit for that one) Chicky: “So far it’s good, but I have the suspicion that it’s not really going to break any new ground or sound significantly different/better than anything else they’ve done.” Maybe it was the fact that halfway through Little Black Submarines I thought someone had hijacked my speakers and started playing Tom Petty. Here’s the live reaction to what was happening (or the closes you’ll get, the Facebook Chat transcript):
Me: jesus h. tapdancing christ
that riff is the same one from “last dance with mary jane”
hahahahaha
Chicky:noooooooooo
hahahahaha
amazing
That song’s been played on the radio every day since the day it came out forty years ago. How come no one caught how similar the chord progression was? Or did they leave it in as an homage?
Overall, this record is probably just lacking a fresh approach. The stripped down garage/blues approach has worn down over the course of all these studio albums. The White Stripes are the same kind of band, but they added xylophones and Hammond organs and piano and all sorts of things in order to avoid the trap of making De Stijl parts II III IV V and VI. Despite how enjoyable some of the songs are on El Camino, the blues and the attitude seems to be watered down, especially when you go back to their earlier records like Thickfreakness or Rubber Factory. And without a painful recent divorce to lend the vocals some authentic Delta heartbreak, it lacks the emotional intensity of Brothers.
Despite the fact that they listened to my complaint about Brothers and did away with the slower songs, I like that album more. And El Camino is more pop/rock than their older catalogue. Average, but you’d like to think you can expect more from such a clearly talented group. I’d give it 2 1/2 Halls out of 5 Oates.
(For their shameless pilfering of one of the more recognizable opening riffs of rock history, I knocked off a whole half Hall. Seriously, Keys. I am dissapoint.)
Watch their single ‘Lonely Boy’ below.
