The Black Keys: Magic Potion
09/08/2006 07:32 a.m.
What a dissapointing record.

i absolutely love the black keys, but their latest release, "magic potion", is surprisingly and unfortunately very boring. every song sounds the same as the one before it; the only distinguishable parts are bits of riffs that sound taken out of older, better songs. On rubber factory, this technique was used at least once, but it produced the best track on the album (the riff from "Girl is on my mind" is a near carbon copy of, oddly enough, the beastie boys' "No sleep til brooklyn")- here it just sounds, well, recycled. Example: "Just a little heat" apes Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker".
The whole record reeks with a lack of passion and inspiration. Their covers from the other records served as some sort of catalyst which sent them off into musical glory; fitting then, that this, their least inspired effort to date, contains no covers.

this is all a shame, because both of these men are virtuosic musicians. Carney is literally unmatched by any percussionist working today- his drumming is usually inventive and interesting; and it starts out as such here, too. However, through the album's 11 tracks, it starts to wear thin.
conversely, Auerbach's Vocals, usually heralded for their genuine tone and gritty realism, have become less emotive by overemotion. That is to say, it sounds like he's trying too hard to sound like, well, what he sounded like on the other records.

and, as i mentioned before, the guitars lack the creative spark they once had.
top that off with production that leaves something to be desired (everything is pretty much indistinguishable in the mix; it becomes one gigantic mass of sound without definition), and you've got what is easily their most disappointing record to date.

hopefully, they'll have a little more magic next time around.
I am currently Troubled
I am listening to black keys- strange desire