2010 has been a good year for The Black Keys. Their sixth full-length effort, Brothers, debuted at number three on Billboard's Top 200 (right behind a compilation from Fox's musical sitcom Glee and a re-issue of Exile on Main Street, so for all intents and purposes, they debuted at number one). The record has garnered not only commercial success, but also critical acclaim from mainstream news outlets and rock-snob bloggers alike.
The album finds the duo splitting the difference between the distorted bare-bones blues that characterized their earlier work and the more layered, psychedelic style they adopted on 2008's Attack and Release. Guitarist Dan Auerbach explained, "Brothers is textured in a more natural way, while Attack and Release is more of a collage. Brothers feels more logical, more restrained." When asked which of the two was behind the band's recent turn towards the trippy, Patrick smiled and pointed to Dan while Dan stoically said, "both of us."
The album was recorded at the famed Muscle Shoals Studio with the help of Danger Mouse. Brothers is only the second Black Keys record in which the pair has enlisted the help of a producer; they engineered and produced their first four albums entirely on their own. Drummer Patrick Carney elaborated, "After the first record, we tried going into the studio twice and had two miserable experiences. After that, we decided not to go to studios. Maybe it was arrogant, maybe it was naive...By Attack and Release, we felt comfortable enough to let someone in." Dan added, "We try to handpick people with similar sensibilities to enhance our ideas."
On Tuesday night at Central Park's SummerStage, the band played songs from Brothers alongside old favorites for their fourth of about fifty North American tour dates. The $35 ticket price and Upper East Side location of the show attracted an older, refreshingly un-hip audience (even with supporting act The Morning Benders, who cut their teeth playing to the neon-clad, Pabst-guzzling set).
The Benders played through cuts from their debut album Big Echo with more muscle and chutzpah than they exhibit on record. Still, the band's reverb-soaked pop was met with indifference from the audience, as evidenced by their unwillingness (inability?) to hum along to the wordless chorus of indie-hit-of-the-summer "Excuses". That being said, the crowd probably would have yawned at anyone from Grizzly Bear to Panda Bear; all in attendance were there to rock, not to sway.
Though the opening act failed to rouse the audience, the mere sight of the Black Keys sent the crowd into frenzy. They kicked off their set with heavy old favorites "Thickfreakness" and "10 AM Automatic," both of which center around riffs that AC/DC would be proud of and that Wolfmother would write if only they could. Like the Morning Benders, these guys hit much harder live (literally, Carney seemed as if he was furious at his snare and floor tom). Auerbach's unhinged style of playing complemented Carney's percussive assault perfectly. Rhythmically, they lock in together so tight that you could imagine one brain controlling both drums and guitar. Sonically, they produce so much power that you can't believe that just two people are making all that racket.
About halfway through the set, two became four as Dan and Patrick were joined by a keyboardist and bassist to play songs from Brothers. The inclusion of these elements transformed the band into another entity entirely. Their playing became softer and more nuanced and ended up sounding like they had hired My Morning Jacket as their backing band. On "Everlasting Light", Auerbach trades in his worn growl for a seductive falsetto that would feel at home on 70's R&B radio. On "Howlin' for You," the band tries it hand at psych-glam rock with a beat that sounds more T-Rex than T-Bone Walker.
Though I prefer the band's earlier, grittier songs, their new material was well-executed and shows that the band is not complacent to make the same great record over and over again. The show, like their latest record, balanced their signature sound with new styles and sonic ideas without sounding contrived. Next time they come to town, don't miss them.