The Black Keys - Brothers

It's been two years since the Keys' last proper effort, but it's been a full two years. A couple of side projects (both of which I saw live) and the Blackroc collaboration (which I have yet to hear). And unlike that last effort, the Keys reign in all the psychedelic experimentation by adding themselves as producers.

And while there is only so much a blues-rock duo is going to perform, I can still say that the guys do not completely revert back to a simple guitar-drums combo all of the time. They still include some overdubs and some simple song texturing, but certainly nothing as distracting as Attack & Release.

"Everlasting Light" for example, is as brilliant an opening track as I've heard in years. Not even a riff. Just a 2/4 break beat to keep the hand claps going doubled with chugga-chug guitar that lays the bed while Dan sings with falsetto what amounts to a sexy gospel prayer. It's got a jesus feel, but chances are you'll be fucking to it. Trust me.

But Danger Mouse is still in the house, and there are a couple of songs that feel like hold-overs from the DM-produced record. A poppy-mellotron slow jam that does not work me at all called "The Only One"... But then on the other hand there's one I like a lot, "Too Afraid To Love You", which employs some harpsichord-voiced instrument. Which may not even be necessary, but I still love Dan's vocal delivery anyway.

So there are several great songs on here with an excellent old-school garage vibe. But there are 15 tracks over one hour. I say this a lot: trim down your fucking record. Songs start to bleed under a full listen. You'll remember that there's an instrumental and an Isaac Hayes cover but the listener will confuse them with other tracks. It's a small request, especially with how good this record is, but people will be more willing to buy their records if the percentage of greatness is larger. (3.5 of 5 stars)