I was more than a little skeptical when I heard that The Black Keys's Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney had been able to record another album in just over a year after their phenomenal Brothers (2010). Sure, The Beatles were able to harness that kind of energy in the 1960s and both The Roots and Kanye West have been able to produce quality work in a short period of time. However, for every group that is able to pull off that manic work pace, there is a Mars Volta that seems to miss the target more and more with each hastily prepared album. Thankfully, and this has been a damn strong year for music, Auerbach and Carney fall into the former category and their seventh record, El Camino (2011), is a hell of a ride.
The album cuts to the chase with the lead off single "Lonely Boy." Between Auerbach's growling guitar riffs and the upbeat chiming of the rock organ, this is the musical equivalent of a shot of 5 Hour Energy. You've heard the song, you've seen the video. 'Nuff said there.
The duo continues the momentum through "Dead and Gone," one of the best rockers on the album. Carney's primal skin beating, coupled with a thudding bass and Auerbach's gospel chorus backed vocals, perfectly lead into the fuzzy rocker "Gold on the Ceiling," a track where Auerbach lets his fingerwork venture into Jack White doing Lynyrd Skynyrd territory.
The next two tracks, "Little Black Submarines" and "Money Maker," are the two I feel most conflicted about. "Submarines" slows things down with a minimalist acoustic intro, making it the aesthetic odd man out on the album. The track also provides Auerbach the space to place his vocal talents in the spotlight, unclouded by filtered guitar riffs and without the support of a soulful choir, as he laments that "a broken heart is blind" (many of the album's lyrics focus on loneliness). As the track is structured, it completely kills the momentum produced by the first three tracks. Yet, it also provides adds dynamism to the album and when the track climaxes with one of Auerbach's best guitar solos to date. However, part of me feels like the album would be better served if the track was structured backwards, using the momentum of the first three tracks to gradually slow things down. As the album stands, "Little Black Submarines" is a speed bump on the apex of a mountain; it is the pause at the top of the roller coaster where you stand and admire the view before falling into the thrill of the descent.
And that descent, while is starts rocky with the unremarkable "Money Maker," finds its sweet spot in the album's second half. "Run Right Back" kicks off a tight, fun, run of tracks. While the track's lyrics are a little well-worn by this time...it's another track about a man being attracted to a bad woman ("She's the worst thing I've been addicted to...")...it does what it does extremely well. "Sister," the follow up track, comes across like an 80s arena rocker. Lyrically, it's another "Ten Cent Pistol," but the rock is hard, so hard in fact that Auerbach's stumming and Carney's beating become so intense that you can hear an exhausted Carney drop the sticks at the end of the track.
"Hell of a Season" is another scorned lover track ("In this hell of a season, give me more of a reason to be with you.") but the combination of Auerbach's bassified guitar work and Carney's meat tenderizing stick work drive this one home. Along side "Dead and Gone," "Hell of a Season" is probably the best balls out rocker on the album (at least, aside from the tracks that have been rendered into singles already). "Stop Stop," like "Lonely Boy," gives us a return to the more playful side of the Keys's style. Marching band bells and the return of Auerbach's soulful backing vocalists make the chorus particularly infectious, even if it is another "Run Right Back" lyrically.
All in all, El Camino is one of the best rockers of 2011. It may lack the eclecticism of Brothers and feel a lot like more accessible version of the Danger Mouse produced Attack & Release (Mouse makes a return to this album as well, so it's fitting that there is continuity in the approach) and the Keys could use some work when it comes to freshening up their song lyrics and subject matter, but it's a hell of a ride and a hell of an accomplishment for a band to take the crown for best rock album - in my humble opinion - two years in a row.
For those looking for a taste before Tuesday, The Black Keys' official website has a five song sampler now streaming.
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