Fans of the Black Keys in their earliest incarnation shook their heads in wonder as the flailing, wild-eyed garage-blues duo they’d come to adore became one of the biggest bands of the 2010s. 2011’s El Camino and 2012’s Brothers offered an unexpectedly streamlined, irresistibly catchy update on their blues-rock template, with smash singles ‘Lonely Boy’, ‘Gold On the Ceiling’ and ‘Tighten Up’ proving that modern, chart-friendly R&B was a game that could be played with guitars.
But staying on the pop radar is never easy. Singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Pat Carney looked uncomfortable in the glare, and the effort of maintaining popularity appeared to impact on the records – as on 2019’s airless Let’s Rock. The slick title track of 2025’s No Rain, No Flowers…
Tag Archive: The Black Keys
Drama stalked The Black Keys pretty relentlessly in 2024 and, if you kept abreast of it, you’ll have an idea of what they were aiming for with the title of this, their 13th studio album.
If there was a silver lining to come out of last year’s annus horribilis, it’s that they were able to cut another record, keeping up a prolific streak that’s seen them put out five LPs in the last seven calendar years.
Perhaps last year’s cancellation of an overly ambitious US arena tour – as well as its subsequent legal fallout – has loosened the duo up somewhat. Their gradual transition from scratchy Ohio blues outfit to bona-fide indie rock anthem-peddlers has been well-documented, but their more recent output had suggested a yearning…