Review | The Black Keys – Dropout Boogie

Label: Nonesuch Records

While it feels like Ohio two piece The Black Keys are still fresh faced, their latest album ‘Dropout Boogie’ is their eleventh studio album! As well as creating an envious back catalogue, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have a serious resumé when it comes to the world of music so when they come together to create, it comes with a depth of knowledge and love of the art form.

The Black Keys waste little time as ‘Wild Child’ punches through your speakers. Auerbach’s vocals are passionate, the guitars are filthy and the drumming lively in this uptempo garage blues stomper. ‘It Ain’t Over’ slips one foot into soul with a vocal track that has the grain and the feeling of some iconic 70’s soul epic. The chorus wails as the thick layers of instruments compliment the vocals and bring this song to life and give it a weight that is hard to imitate. ‘Good Love’ features the legendary Billy F. Gibbons of ZZ Top fame and has a blues funk to it that’s laid on so thick you can barely see through it. The low riding groove sets the perfect template for the guitar lick that goes hand in hand with the vocals to create a sound that comes from the heart and soul.

The main sound that runs through ‘Dropout Boogie’ and ‘Good Love’ in particular is that blues sound that could only come from the deepest of the Deep South. It’s the type of blues that smells of the bayou and is truly heard in the vocal delivery and the haze of the guitar tone throughout.

Running at only thirty four minutes, ‘Dropout Boogie’ doesn’t feel rushed or too short. Instead, The Black Keys reach out of the speaker and drag you into their dark and hazy world. For a band eleven albums into their career, The Black Keys have absolutely no right to be creating albums as incendiary as this.