2010, Nonesuch Records

VINYL FORMAT. Comes with a CD version of the album! The maturation of the Black Keys as record makers and performers has been both subtle and startling. With their 2008 release Attack & Release - the fifth album of their eight-year career - guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney illustrated the durability of their few-frills sound, a mysterious and heavy brew of seventies-vintage rock, classic R&B and timeless, downhearted blues. Producer and pal Danger Mouse, their first outside collaborator, didn't try to reinvent their sound but further isolated its essence with the help of a few carefully chosen guest players and some retro-modern electronic gear. It didn't need to get slicker to get better. Danger Mouse returned to co-produce "Tighten Up" on Brothers, but for the most part, the duo was on its own, spending ten days at the legendary Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama and coming up with an even more intensely focused, deeply soulful set that includes a cover of Jerry Butler's "Never Gonna Give You Up." The performances are inventive and impassioned: Auerbach extends his vocal range to falsetto on lead-off track "Everlasting Light" and "The Only One"; "Howlin' for You" opens with a Gary Glitter-style drum riff and the chorus practically invites singing along. The tunes offer a surprising amount of lyrical candor and more than a little dark humor; the grooves alternate between ballsy swagger and bluesy rumination.