Today's the day: Brothers, The Black Keys' highly anticipated new album, finally hits stores. To mark the occasion, Nonesuch staffers joined the good folks at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in New York City, working late into the night last night to create the one-and-only Black Keys pop-up store, pictured at left.

Situated in the front of the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, one of downtown New York’s most vital community institutions, the pop-up store will be open from today through Thursday only, highlighted by an intimate performance by The Black Keys tomorrow night, May 19, from which 100% of ticket proceeds will go directly to Housing Works, Inc., a leading advocate for New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. The Housing Works pop-up store features The Black Keys’ merchandise, including the limited-edition collectible hardbound book/deluxe edition of Brothers, otherwise available only on the band’s website, theblackkeys.com. A portion of the proceeds from all merchandise sold will go directly to the Housing Works charity. For more information, visit housingworks.org.

Following Wednesday night's very intimate show at Housing Works, band mates Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach head to a very different New York stage when they open for Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden Thursday night.

For fans unable to stop by the pop-up store and celebrate in New York, you can also pick up a copy of the album on CD or vinyl in the Nonesuch Store and receive the complete album instantly as high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s. And tune in to the Late Show with David Letterman on May 25 and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on May 26 to see the band perform.

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Before then, fans around the world can take in this gem from The Black Keys: the official video for "Tighten Up," which premieres today on MySpace. While you may have seen an unofficial music video or two featuring Frank the Puppet Dinosaur flying around YouTube, there's now a legit video for the album's first single. Check it out here:

 
In more video goodness, there's now footage from and behind-the-scenes at the band's free show at New York's Classic Car Club last Saturday, sponsored by KIN, which you can catch on YouTube.

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USA Today, in today's lead music review, gives the album three-and-a-half out of four stars. "There's not one ounce of bull or excess on the tough, taut Brothers," says reviewer Jerry Shriver. "The album's generous 15 songs succinctly plumb the genre's familiar themes of despair, heartache, violence and lust—but they avoid clichés like the plague." Read the complete review at usatoday.com.

The Onion A.V. Club's Noel Murray says the album "is actively engaged in exploring how to make beloved old sounds relevant to now, and the result is that even classic Black Keys howlers like 'Black Mud' and 'Ten Cent Pistol' come off more vital in the new context." Read more at avclub.com.

Slant magazine gives it four-and-a-half stars calling it "as ferocious and soulful an exploration of contemporary blues as anything in recent memory." Reviewer Jonathan Keefe says it's "one of 2010's strongest albums," and concludes: "An album that works as both a blisteringly smart genre study that combines classic and contemporary perspectives on blues, soul, and R&B and as just one hell of a rock record, Brothers reaffirms that the Black Keys belong in any serious conversation about America's finest bands." You'll find the review at slantmagazine.com.

Back in Pat and Dan's home state of Ohio, the Cleveland Scene says while they may not be brothers, "they might as well be. The Akron duo has been together since their teens, and they work together like tuned-in siblings." Reviewer Danielle Sills says, "A visceral rawness radiates throughout Brothers, giving the album an attitude that reaches back to their basics—distorted guitars, pounding beats, blurry vocals ... With grooves this good, you wish the guys were part of your family." Read more at clevescene.com.

Minnesota Public Radio's The Current has picked Brothers as its CD of the Week and says the band has "consistently delivered the goods for a decade" and, with brothers, "still deliver their trademark rockin' blues." Current host Bill DeVille calls attention to Dan's contribution, proclaiming him "a modern day guitar hero, but little is said about his vocals. He's an incredibly underrated singer. He can be tough and tender, honey-voiced or whiskey-stained." Read more at minnesota.publicradio.org.