There were a handful of nights back in the early 1980's when me and my buddy Gene did little else but sit around in his folks' living room, bliss out on the heat of the woodstove, and listen to Elvis Costello's Imperial Bedroom and, especially, R.E.M.'s Murmur. I remember being completely amazed at what I was hearing — the weird part being that I had no way to articulate the "why" of the music's greatness. Peter Buck's jangly arpeggios and mashed chords, Mike Mills' hyperactive basslines...these were surely part of the reason I was so entranced. They just sounded very new and fresh, this despite the supposed Byrds influence that I'm sure I didn't pick up on at the time.
It's also amazing to me that I'm here talking about the band so many years later. Longevity is a rare thing in the rock world, and given the direction the band had taken post-Bill Berry, R.E.M. sounded like there was nothing left in the tank.
Accelerate finds the band back squarely where they belong. Buck has rediscovered the electric guitar, Mike Mills is all over the place instrumentally and vocally, and Michael Stipe is singing as though his life depended on it.
There's a good reason why that can of grease appears on 2003's Thickfreakness: that's exactly what the band sounds like. Greased up, fried up, and amplified, the Black Keys sound like direct descendants of swampy blues rock - Junior Kimbrough being one of vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach's favorites, which figured heavily into the first album, The Big Come Up. Later albums find the band mining classic blues rock, with Cream, Hendrix, and early ZZ Top all figuring heavily into the equation.
To give an extra special spin to Attack and Release, the band brought in the hot commodity that is producer Danger Mouse (whose work in Gnarls Barkley could be heard last week with their latest album). But from what I've heard so far, his presence has had very little effect (and that's a good thing, in this case.) It's still the same basic dirty, gritty, nasty blues that'll leave you pickin' chunks out of your teeth for quite a while afterwards.
Article comments
1 - Pico
Poi Dog Pondering is still around? Damn, I think I saw them at SXSW about 20 years ago.
2 - Donald Gibson
Thanks for the link to my Stones review.
I've heard a bit of In the Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2 and I was really impressed with the couple tracks I heard. I may have to pick that one up.
- Donald
3 - Mat Brewster
Oh good, you're back. I was worried that you had decided the music industry wasn't releasing anything worth talking about anymore and gave up on this series.
4 - Glen Boyd
No problem Donald. Your review said it better than I would have.
-Glen
5 - Glen Boyd
Had some conflicts last week Mat -- something about this Springsteen guy being in my neck of the woods and all. But yeah, I'm back. Looks like the music industry finally decided to cooperate this week too.
-Glen
6 - Glen Boyd
And besides, Saleski and TJ aren't the only guys round here who get vacation days as part of the benefits package...
-Glen
7 - Tom Johnson
Ah, Web Sheriff.
8 - JC Mosquito
New REM - well, so far, so good - what's with all these old timers turning out top drawer recordings & performances over the last couple of years? To name a few: REM, Zep, Cheap Trick, Tragically Hip.
9 - Josh Hathaway
Tom, where are you on The Black Keys? My brother has been trying to get me on board with them for a couple years now and I could swear I've read something you've written on them. I'm thinking of giving their new disc a whirl?