Listening to the Black Keys, it's hard to believe that they've only been around since 2002 (they actually met in 2001, but didn't release their first record until the next year). Their songs have the soul, rawness and feel of blues and rock music from the 70's. They've also racked up quite a discography in a relatively short period of time - 10 albums total, which include Dan Auerbach's solo album, Patrick Carney's side project, Drummer, and Blakroc, their collaborative rap/rock effort.
For unknown reasons, I hadn't heard of them until last year. Attack and Release was one of my favorites of 2008 and I remember being dumbfounded when I found out that all of that noise came from only two guys. At the beginning of this year, Dan Auerbach released Keep It Hid which I was a fan of, especially the first three songs. Patrick made constructive use of the Keys' downtime, picking up bass and starting Drummer. They released Feel Good Together in the fall and it's definitely one of my favorites of the year (if you haven't heard "Mature Fantasy" yet, do yourself a favor and have a listen on their MySpace page). And somehow during all of this, Auerbach and Carney were able to find 11 free days to scrounge up 11 rap and R&B artists and record 11 tracks that made up Blakroc's self-titled album (they also posted webisodes on their site chronicling the making of the album). These guys sure aren't lacking in the creativity department.
Word has it that the Black Keys will be releasing a new album in April... looks like they'll be picking up right where they left off in the 00's.
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