After four albums, you’d think two-man-band The Black Keys would run out of ways to keep their drums-and-guitar formula from going stale. Perhaps this gritty Midwestern blues duo felt on the verge of a musical identity crisis–or maybe it was serendipity–but on their uncharacteristically eclectic fifth album Attack and Release, this low-fi duo enlisted production help from Brian “Dangermouse” Burton, of Gnarls Barkley and Beatles vs. Jay-Z mash-up Grey Album fame. This unlikely trio–who hooked up while working on Ike Turner’s comeback disc before his death in late 2007–has rejuvenated The Black Keys’ signature primal stomp with love-worn dirges like the banjo-laden porch ditty “Psychotic Girl”, which uncovers the evil ways of the female sex, and the morosely nostalgic “Things Ain’t Like They Used to Be” a song that mourns the end of a tumultuous romantic tryst. The Black Keys conjure their garage roots on the savage “I’ve Got Mine” and “Remember When (Side B)” with ferocious guitars and bombastic percussion that recall some of the best moments from Thickfreakness. A newly revamped sonic aesthetic and help from a superstar jam master, Attack and Release shows that for The Black Keys a little change may be a good thing.
