After an explosive debut album and a mellower sophomore effort, Akron duo The Black Keys roar back with "Rubber Factory", a passionate, catchy, masterpiece that proves these guys are for real.
One thing Rubber Factory is NOT is slick, but what it IS is a whole bunch of other, finer things: it's an album that manages to swing like a rump-shaking backroom party at 4 AM on one track ("Just Couldn't Tie Me Down") yet doesn't hesitate to turn around and raise the hair on the back of your neck with something eerie and lonely ("The Lengths"). Leaving the edges ragged might not work for the greenswards of the downwardly mobile, but it's the sort of thing that works just fine for music if you have the right touch, and the Black Keys have that indelicacy down to a gutter science. Rubber Factory is raw in the best meaning of the word. Rubber Factory is unadulterated and pure. Raw in the Iggy and the Stooges sense. Raw in the manner of Charley Patton's scratchiest gospel blues sides. Rubber Factory is the sound of The Black Keys reveling in all their high ragged glory, but also coming into their own as stunningly talented songwriters and producers. Its a classic album, vital and fresh, that rewards the listener continually from start to finish.
Musicians:
Dan Auerbach, vocals, guitar
Patrick Carney, drums
Selections:
1. When the Lights Go Out
2. 10 A.M. Automatic
3. Just Couldn't Tie Me Down
4. All Hands Against His Own
5. The Desperate Man
6. Girl is On My Mind
7. The Lengths
8. Grown So Ugly
9. Stack Shot Billy
10. Act Nice and Gentle
11. Aeroplane Blues
12. Keep Me
13. Till I Get My Way
One thing Rubber Factory is NOT is slick, but what it IS is a whole bunch of other, finer things: it's an album that manages to swing like a rump-shaking backroom party at 4 AM on one track ("Just Couldn't Tie Me Down") yet doesn't hesitate to turn around and raise the hair on the back of your neck with something eerie and lonely ("The Lengths"). Leaving the edges ragged might not work for the greenswards of the downwardly mobile, but it's the sort of thing that works just fine for music if you have the right touch, and the Black Keys have that indelicacy down to a gutter science. Rubber Factory is raw in the best meaning of the word. Rubber Factory is unadulterated and pure. Raw in the Iggy and the Stooges sense. Raw in the manner of Charley Patton's scratchiest gospel blues sides. Rubber Factory is the sound of The Black Keys reveling in all their high ragged glory, but also coming into their own as stunningly talented songwriters and producers. Its a classic album, vital and fresh, that rewards the listener continually from start to finish.
Musicians:
Dan Auerbach, vocals, guitar
Patrick Carney, drums
Selections:
1. When the Lights Go Out
2. 10 A.M. Automatic
3. Just Couldn't Tie Me Down
4. All Hands Against His Own
5. The Desperate Man
6. Girl is On My Mind
7. The Lengths
8. Grown So Ugly
9. Stack Shot Billy
10. Act Nice and Gentle
11. Aeroplane Blues
12. Keep Me
13. Till I Get My Way
