Eighteen years ago, two childhood friends Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney formed The Black Keys, an ambitious garage/blues rock outfit. The band came from humble beginnings, starting out as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their records. Their popularity, as well as their connections, slowly grew as they started recording in actual studios, trademarking their music and even landing multiple collaborations with legendary producer Danger Mouse before attaining their first ever #1 album on the Billboard 200 with the release of Turn Blue. After finishing the tour for that record, they took a self imposed break that lasted almost five years but now they're back with the release of their ninth studio album "Let's Rock".
This album is notable for not featuring any keyboards and the only outside contributions are from two backing vocalists, Leisa Hans and Ashley Wilcoxson. The absence of keyboards, little outside contributions and full self production are all techniques that the band has used before but their approach is now different. Their earlier albums all featured those techniques but while those albums were rawer and grittier in terms of sound, "Let's Rock" is poppier and accessible, similar to their critically acclaimed, Grammy winning album El Camino.
The two backing vocalists are prominent on songs such as Sit Around and Miss You, Get Yourself Together and Lo/Hi but they don't overpower Auerbach's voice and instead compliment it very well. They give the album a more vintage feel as well which is also reminiscent of the vibe on El Camino.
"Let's Rock" is the first album produced fully by The Black Keys since the release of Magic Potion almost thirteen years ago but despite the gap in time, their production is just as solid as before and it's clear that they haven't lost a step in that regard. Auerbach's voice is soothing, similar to his delivery and inflections on their previous record, Turn Blue. This time around though, the lyrics are more hopeful and promising with songs like the electric opener Shine a Little Light, the empowering Get Yourself Together and Go, and the lovely Walk Across the Water.
The Black Keys are at their best when the two bandmates are in sync with each other and despite an almost five year break, their chemistry doesn't suffer in the slightest. In fact, they're the most loose and comfortable that they've been in a long time. Before, the band were constantly grinding with extensive touring of small clubs, frequent album releases and music festival appearances, yet were consistently underrated and overlooked. Now, they've proved once again that the grind has paid off and that they're here to keep rocking.
Final score: 7.5/10
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