Miss Piggy Lunchbox

I wrote this damned review two days ago, but now it’s yesterday, and after being persuaded by some unseen force to give it one last spin on my stereo, I’m forced to rewrite the vast bulk of it. At least it’s because I think it’s a lot better than I did before. Anyway, I just can’t bring myself to trash the old stuff completely, so, along with adding some material, I’m just going to do the strikethrough thing, and you can treat it as a window into the process of getting to know this album. Or whatever.  I kept some of the old stuff, too, so if some of the non-strikethrough stuff seems to be a little poorly composed or to lack cohesion, that’s why.

Attack & Release, released earlier this year by The Black Keys, was produced by Danger Mouse. I’m not sure exactly what meaning is supposed to be conveyed by that, but it is apparently the law that it has to be mentioned in every review of this album, so I figured I’d just get it out of the way. If I’m going to be a music critic, I have to just ape the press release, right?

The Black Keys are some prolofos (prolific mofos), putting out an additional four albums since their 2002 debut, The Big Come Up. I have and love 2003’s Thickfreakness, and I think maybe the band should be a little less prolific because a lot of the pow has disappeared in the last five years. Attack & Release is still really good, but with more emphasis on the slow repetitive nature of the blues and less on their formerly driving rock, the shine is off this blues-rock duo from Akron a bit. Attack & Release is named, I believe, for the strong dichotomy on the album of super-charged, hard-driving rockers against slow, repetitive, blues-y numbers.

The last five years have also formed The Black Keys into a more polished-sounding, less lo-fi band. That’s not necessarily unexpected, as more bands clean up their sound over time, but it is surprising considering this was recorded on a homemade console. Maybe the cleaner sound is the result of Danger Mouse’s production and you all understood that in the first sentence of the review. Maybe the code all reviewers write in is really clear to everybody but me. Regardless, it sounds absolutely amazing on my stereo. It still sounds gritty, but now instead of sounding like they’re playing to their cats in their living room, it sounds like they’re captivating Wembley Stadium.

In what has to be a first, The Black Keys put four of the five best songs at the very end of this record. They also put the two very best songs and the single best song on the record at the very end. It sounds even weirder to listen to than it does to hear about. After decisively determining, through extensive examples at SP20 this last weekend, that the best way to construct a 40-minute live set is to build the entire time, with the possible exception of putting in a really strong opening song (the third mixer, “All You Ever Wanted,” is the opener here), I can’t help but wonder if they’re planning to play this album (clocking in at just under 40 minutes…I knew it) straight though live some time, because that set up certainly doesn’t work on disc as well as it does live.

I don’t think this set up is an accident either. To transition from the “meh” first half to the “yeah” second half of this album, they put the two tracks “Remember When (Side A)” and “Remember When (Side B)” right in the middle. The former fits in with those in front of it as a slow, moody, bluesy sleeper, and the latter picks up the pace and the punch on the drums quite a bit to prepare you for the excellent second half. I am newly loving the first single, “Strange Times,” and “Lies,” and newly really-liking everything else.

I don’t know…this is probably a four-lunchbox CD if I hadn’t heard Thickfreakness, but knowing how much better their output was five years ago, I’m tempted to give it three-and-a-half. But that’s not really fair. It is produced by Danger Mouse, after all. I really like this album. It is a no-brainer at four lunchboxes.

Rating:

Mixers: “All You Ever Wanted,” “Oceans And Streams,” “Things Ain’t Like They Used To Be”
Keepers: everything else
Filed Between: Thickfreakeness and Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath)

Tags: 2008, 4 lunchboxes, CD reviews, music

This entry was posted on Friday, July 18th, 2008 at 4:19 pm and is filed under CD reviews, music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.