The Black Keys - El Camino - Album Review

At first when I purchased El Camino I was a little worried.  Had the Black Keys sold out?  Lonely Boy was certainly a popular song, but did that mean that they had strayed too far from their roots?  The answer is absolutely not, this album delivers on all levels with awesome blues licks and jazz drum rhythms that you've come to expect from Dan Auerbach and Pete Carney.  Magic Potion is my favorite Black Keys album by far for several reasons.  For one thing it's raw.  It's just Carney and Auerbach jamming in Pete's basement and what comes out is nothing less than amazing.  With expectations like that from a previous album, I didn't know what to expect from their frist commercial success.  Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by what I heard and the album slowly began to grow on me.  "Hell of a Season" is a fantastic song that delivers an upbeat rhythm that has a slight sense of blues and sorrow, just one of many great songs on the album.  Auerbach's guitar playing blows me away, and his voice perfectly fits their style.  If you haven't picked this album up already, I highly recommend it.  Eleven songs of pure rock genius, your ears are about to be hit with an amazer-beam, enjoy.

P.S. You can hear the latest single from El Camino, "Gold on the Ceiling" right here on the X!

-J.D.