Filter magazine rates Attack & Release a 93, with reviewer Patrick Strange saying the new album seems to have "dropped out of the heavens with a fistful of downright biting blues-rock." The album, reads the review, "has all the cadence of honest-to-God Southern balladeers (via the band's hometown of Akron, Ohio) and production that makes every bass kick and guitar clash a rustic-Technicolor wonder."
The Black Keys closed out the first leg of their US tour this weekend with sold-out shows at Philadelphia's Electric Factory on Friday and the Orpheum in Boston on Saturday, and start their European tour with a sold-out set at The Astoria in London tonight. Fans Stateside will be able to see the guys again come this summer, as more dates have been confirmed through September, and two new shows have been added: August 8 at the New American Music Union in Pittsburgh and August 31 at the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle. Click here for tour info.
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Following Friday's show at the Electric Factory, the Philadelphia Inquirer's Sam Adams writes that though Patrick and Dan "are often labeled minimalists, because of their bare-bones guitar and drums lineup, the truth is their sound is anything but minimal. Reveling in their Rust Belt roots, the band takes a blue-collar approach to blues rock, hard-driving and no-nonsense."
In addition to those influences stemming from their hometown of Akron, Ohio, Adams recognizes the equally important impact of such legendary Mississippi bluesmen as Junior Kimbrough, writing:
Their songs draw from elemental forces while steering clear of mere revivalism by tapping the same sources that fed their forebears. There may be only two people on stage, but generations stand behind them.
To read the review of the Philadelphia show, visit philly.com.
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The Boston Globe's Jonathan Perry reports from Saturday's Orpheum set that the band "thrilled an audience of 2,700-plus with a lean 75-minute set long on mesmerizing hoodoo garage-blues and short on convention or flabby filler." He describes the band's appeal this way:
What remains remarkable, after all this time and even after the initial shock of seeing and hearing them wears off, is how two skinny 20-something white guys from Akron, Ohio ... can mine such deep roots and summon such soulful fire.
Describing two highlights of the set, Perry points first to the "primal slab of moaning desire" that is Rubber Factory's "Girl Is On My Mind" and then to "I Got Mine" off Attack & Release, which, "replete with riffs deadly as a razor or a rattlesnake and powered by Carney's elemental, relentless whomp, conjured its own universe of sweat, tough times, and triumph, no bass guitar necessary."
To read the concert review, visit boston.com.
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Filter magazine rates Attack & Release a 93, with reviewer Patrick Strange saying the new album seems to have "dropped out of the heavens with a fistful of downright biting blues-rock." The album, reads the review, "has all the cadence of honest-to-God Southern balladeers (via the band's hometown of Akron, Ohio) and production that makes every bass kick and guitar clash a rustic-Technicolor wonder."
Strange sees a great "nuance and musicianship" in the album's songs, highlights from which he describes this way:
Layered tastefully with eerie background choruses and ghostly vocal murmurings, songs such as "Psychotic Girl" and "Lies" are beautifully haunting and exist as rightful purveyors of the modern blues tradition. "I Got Mine" and "Same Old Thing" are examples of the hard-hitting, sweat-slinging rock for which The Black Keys are known, but with near-perfect pitch. And forlorn numbers like "Remember When (Side A)" are reminiscent of classic deep soul with vocal stylings built upon the likes of Redding and Picket.
All in all, Strange concludes, the album "is a great accomplishment for both The Black Keys and Danger Mouse, who have proven that good things can not only last, but sometimes, actually get better."
To read the full review, visit filter-mag.com.
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And ACED magazine, the entertainment magazine for young adults, weighs in with four stars for Attack & Release, with reviewer Kenya Jones writing: "A few listens of the new album in rotation with the old ones, just for perspective's sake, reminds us that these guys are good. Scary good."
She says that while the pairing of Patrick and Dan with producer Danger Mouse may at first seem an unusual one, "what sweet music the odd couple makes." For Attack & Release, Jones concludes, "Pressing play and savoring the flavor is highly recommended on this one."
Read the review at acedmagazine.com.
