The Black Keys - 'Brothers' (18/5/2010)

Last week I received an advance copy of The Black Keys’s upcoming release, ‘Brothers,’ which not only confirmed how much of a trend setter my blog is but it also confirmed that this would be the only album spinning on my turn table for the next little while until The Sadies release their new outing.

‘Brothers’ primarily showcases The Black Keys’s ability to write a really really sad song. So much so that when the album is playing the background the sadness weighs so heavily on the task at hand that it can send you into a nose dive that will land you on your couch. This is what happened to me, at least. But once I glued myself to the couch and pulled out my headphones I took the time to learn the album. Despite its sadness and length, its very good!

‘Brothers’ starts painfully slow with ‘Everlasting Light.’ Luckily it doesn’t take long for The Keys to shift gears and deliver the strongest trifecta of 2010 – ‘Next Girl,’ ‘Tighten Up,’ and ‘Howlin for You.’

A little while later The Keys dip into extreme retro mode and conjure up the instrumental offering ‘Black Mud,’ reminiscent of CCR. Its after this song that the album begins to wallow in sadness. Main Key Dan Auerbach not only wears his heart on his sleeve but he wipes the tears off of his face with it and then passes it around to the audience, making his sadness a tangible reality for those listening in.

By far the the saddest song is ‘Too Afraid to Love You.’ Auerbach whines and moans woah-s and woo-s while dipping in and out of lyrics like ‘I just don’t know what to do, I’m too afraid to love you’ and ‘I wish loneliness would leave me but I think its here to stay.’ The harpsichord that’s driving the song paints the picture of a dishevelled man wearing bell bottoms who is wrestling with the inconceivable notion of closing out the decade by going to a new year’s party without a date.

Before the album starts it denouement, the band delivers a great song that would have fit in nicely with the songs at the beginning of the album, ‘Sinister Kid.’ Then the album then fades away with songs that get progressively uneventful and by the time the James Butler cover ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ comes knocking, the listener has probably lost interest. After all, ‘Brothers’ clocks in at just under an hour of sadness, which might be a lot to take in at one sitting.