So for a couple of years now, The Black Keys have just been a "that band that did those two famous songs" kind of thing. And yes, I know that people generally know about them, but I've been listening to every single song of theirs completely over the last few days and.....holy cow.

These dudes are unreal. Every song is wonderful. Some are old school blows sounding, some like classic motown, some like the Beatles, and some like R&B. Unbelievably versatile.

I'd listened to some interview a while back with Matt Bellamy from Muse where he basically said that if there's someone else that's going to carry alt rock and blues roots into the future besides Muse, he thinks its The Black Keys. Even when I heard that, I didn't really check them out. Man, have I been missing out. I've been searching pretty hard for someone young and modern that was similar to Gary Clark Jr. in terms of their musical foundation being true blues music, and I finally found it.

How are these guys not talked about even more than they already are??

One of my favorite traditions at NG used to be Logan's would play this video,



Every night at midnight, and all the drunks would dance along. God I miss college.

You have been missing out Hickory. Their last album was the most boring in my opinion but still better than most bands out there. I ran into Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney at a bar in Beachwood, theyre cool dudes, Patrick and his brother are really funny on twitter, a few years back they got into a twitter war with Justin Bieber and his followers, hilarious.

Dan's new band the Arcs is good too.

The Black Keys are one of my favorite pandora stations to listen to while getting ready in the morning.

Love the Black Keys. Dan Auerbach has a side band called "The Arcs," they put out some good stuff as well.

Favorite band of the last decade.

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I like music. I like to like music. I want to like the Black Keys. I just get bored. I think I'll try again, really give them a real shot, sample songs from each album and report back.

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I understand that feeling. A lot of my buddies are super into this new rise of house music and have spent considerable time trying to "convince" me to like it. It's not science though, it's art and it's preference.

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Better when they were just two guys playing blues....

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Yes.

They're pop now.

I'll never grow tired of their old stuff.

The Black Keys are awesome.

I saw them at Ridglea Theatre in FW before they blew up big. It was really cool seeing them at a small venue bc they were at AAC next time they came through town. /coolstoryRedstone,butreallyIdid

What are the two famous songs?

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What are the two famous songs?

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Probably Gold on the Ceiling and the other one has the word "boy" in it I think.

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I like music. I like to like music. I want to like the Black Keys. I just get bored. I think I'll try again, really give them a real shot, sample songs from each album and report back.

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I'm in the same boat...

so many people love them, but i just don't quite get it. they're kinda like the Wes Anderson of music in that regard.

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What are the two famous songs?

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I would say they have four famous songs.

Tighten Up
Howling for You
Lonely Boy
Gold on the Ceiling

I like Lonely Boy, but Hard Row and their cover of Have Love Will Travel are hands down my favorites.

Their first album is their best, but I think El Camino is number 2. Their last album was the first I thought was meh.

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What are the two famous songs?

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I would say they have four famous songs.

Tighten Up
Howling for You
Lonely Boy
Gold on the Ceiling

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Little Black Submarines gets a lot of airplay too. Fever was big, at least for a little while. All of these are off their newer, more commercial albums, not that there's anything wrong with that. Saw them in 2014 when they were in Houston and they put on an awesome show.

My favorite song off the new album... most definitely blues rock

Leavin' Trunk is also wonderful. Captures the Taj Mahal sound perfectly.

They're talked about a lot and insanely popular. Very good band. Once they have a new album come out, you'll hear and see more of them.

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They're talked about a lot and insanely popular. Very good band. Once they have a new album come out, you'll hear and see more of them.

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I just don't see it then. Here in College Station among college students, it's pop, hip hop, house, or country music. I'm consistently one of the only people I talk that likes every other genre besides those.

There isn't a bad song on Attack & Release or Brothers.

^ Same boat. Saw them at ACL a few years ago and they were awesome. They played Girl is on My Mind which is on my fav album of theirs, Rubber Factory.

Here's another great song off that album:

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They're talked about a lot and insanely popular. Very good band. Once they have a new album come out, you'll hear and see more of them.

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I just don't see it then. Here in College Station among college students, it's pop, hip hop, house, or country music. I'm consistently one of the only people I talk that likes every other genre besides those.

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That's because it's College Station

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This, College Station has the absolute worst taste in music for the most part. (Opinion of course) the fox is the only good local radio station. Other than that, I've had to get my music fix from indie/alt rock stations on XM or the Internet. All my friends call me a hipster or a music snob, haha. However it's more likely that the fact is I'm 29, and pop music and hip hop that all the 19 year olds listen to is lost on me. (Old man effect)

Ok, going through their discography today, gonna post thoughts album by album

So the general consensus seems to be that their early work was better, so I'm excited to hear this first album

The Big Come Up (2002)

First of all, I do like this. The whole 60s soul/blues garage band thing is cool, especially for this time period. I have always had this preconceived notion of these guys just making bland beer commercial songs. There's a lot more life in this record, I appreciate that. It still sounds like beer commercial music, but it feels more genuine on this album.

Turns out I have heard a lot of these songs, and that was fun to discover that I actually know these guys more than I thought.

I get the whole lo fi, but the drums are just so distracting. Both the sound and the playing are brutal, and take me out of nearly every song.

A song like Leavin' Trunk, the drums are consistently off the beat, I'm starting to wonder if he's doing it on purpose. Is he trying to sound off?

There's an old sampled soul drum break on the song Breaks, and t reminds me of how infinitely better this album would sound if they had attempted to get that kind of muffled drum sound. The funny thing is, the drums sound the best on the hidden track at the end of the album

Anyway, despite the drummer making Meg White sound like Buddy Rich, there were some real bright spots, songs I would even make it a point to listen to again.

Highlights for me:

Do the Rump
I'll be Your Man
Them Eyes

Ok, on to Thickfreakness... back in a bit.

Thickfreakness is my favorite so far. Props to your process of examining music.

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This is not a Redstone troll

Rubber factory, thickfreakness, everything up to and including brothers is fan****ingtastic.

Everything after brothers is generic, overproduced trash.

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I think it's fair to say that they've made too much music in too short of a period of time.

That being said, I'm really curious what direction they'll go with their next album. That's why I love bands like Muse and The Black Keys so much. There are significant stylistic differences between their albums.

Alright, Thickfreakness (2003)

To start, the drums got better. That's great, it was nice to hear them sound better and be played better.

So far, if I had the recording and playing quality of this album with the songs of the first album, I would really love these guys. As it is, I am still digging it, but I'm worried I could get a little burnt out here soon.

Every song SOUNDS nearly identical. The guitar tone, the fuzzed out blues riff, they are all very similar. And I get it, it is a cool sound, and they are capturing a type of music that doesn't really stray too far from one song to the next. So I don't fault them for it, but I may need to take a break before I start the next album. I don't think they were meant to be listened to this way.

That said, there was some cool things that stood out for me on this one. Set Free was really jarring, it was the first time the drums were close mic'ed and spread across the stereo spectrum, and the song was good. Followed by Midnight in Her Eyes, which was also a good memorable tune.

The trouble I'm running into right now is, if I were to try to hum the melody, or even the riff from any of these songs right now, I don't think I could do it. Stuck right now in my head with a hodgepodge of very similar sounding songs. And then I hear, "if you're looking for a smooth lite beer that goes down easy, reach for a ...."

Luckily though, the rhythm on these tunes are varied enough to keep the listener interested.

I will say, I get the love for these first two records. If you really really dig this sound, then I see why these are so enjoyable, because you get a lot of it.

Highlights for me :

Set Free
midnight in her eyes
No Trust
I Cry Alone

Everything you say is pretty accurate. In my mind, the recording style makes it a perfect blend of The Strokes, Jack White, and some Nirvana elements. And yeah, they don't really have a "sing-along" aspect to their songs.