The Black Keys
Let's Rock
Release Date: Jun 28, 2019
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Garage Punk, Indie Rock, Punk Blues
Record label: Nonesuch
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Album Review: Let's Rock by The Black Keys
Very Good, Based on 8 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Like many couples embarking on their second decade together, the Black Keys decided they needed to spend some time apart. Once Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney wrapped their supporting tour for 2014's Turn Blue, the pair went their separate ways. During the next half-decade, neither musician laid low, busying themselves with production work and, in Auerbach's case, releasing two albums of new original material (Yours, Dreamily was the 2015 debut of his second band the Arcs, while 2017's Waiting on a Song was his second solo record).
Based on rating 3.8/5
Play it loud As an admittedly newer Black Keys fan, part of me became giddy at the sound of 'Eagle Birds' when it dropped as a single a few months ago. I was part of that wave of fresh faces who flocked to the arena rock of El Camino in 2011, blissfully ignorant of their discography that extended nearly a decade prior. As such, my love for the band formed around their 60's-70's influenced style of rock, not their more elaborate, bluesy jams.
Based on rating 7.5/10
It's been five years since their last album Turn Blue, and now they return with their ninth studio album Let's Rock. Written and produced by Auerbach and Carney at Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville, "the record is like a homage to electric guitar" claims Carney. The album's title comes from the news announcement that the first person in Tennessee to die by electric chair in eleven years simply said "let's rock" as their final words.
Based on rating 7/10
No one knows better than the Black Keys that success came at the right time, and that it'll only decrease with time. Which is why it's fitting that on their latest, "Let's Rock," the Akron, Ohio-formed duo would want to keep expectations in check by outsmarting everyone else. After taking on a widescreen rock sound on 2010's Brothers, quickly followed with 2011's Grammy-winning El Camino, the duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney had set themselves in an advantageous position—gaining the respect of the new and old guard with their back-to-basics blues-rock.
Based on rating 7.0/10
When the Black Keys look back, they won't have regrets about striking while the iron was hot. After the mammoth success of their sixth album Brothers, which polished the band's raw blues-rock enough for the radio, the duo raced out two more albums, including 2011's even slicker El Camino. They headlined arenas and festivals, touring ceaselessly while licensing their music to seemingly any brand interested--which, for a time, felt like all of them.
Based on rating 3/5
The beloved blues rock kings return, after five years away, with a record whose spontaneous energy can't mask its undercooked sound and lack of impact It's been five years since blues-rock muso duo The Black Keys last graced us with their presence, taking a long break to deal with injuries and PTSD, both sustained on tour. Their last album - 2014's 'Turn Blue' - had secured their place as arena headliners after their Danger Mouse-produced 'El Camino' first put them there in 2011. The latter was full of thrusting, urgent blues-rock – the kind that, despite being rooted in the past, sounds fresh and electrifying.
Based on rating 5/10
The Black Keys have been at the top of the blues rock heap since their debut in 2002, laying down a string of hits and eight studio albums along the way, and a collective body of work that has set the expectation bar high. So it's a bit disappointing that their ninth album, "Let's Rock", is nothing special for such a special band. While the dynamic duo of guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney certainly have nothing to prove, this homage to electric guitars (no keyboards were used in the making of this record) is a mixed bag of bland rock and the timeless rock textures we all like, and have heard before, spun in the unique bluesy style The Black Keys are known for.
Opinion: Excellent
I n 2002, when the Black Keys released their debut album, you could have got very long odds on them being the one early-noughties garage-blues band to not just survive but prosper. Their feud with Jack White now looks less like the resentment of someone furious about them hanging on to his coattails and more like someone bitter about them overtaking him so thoroughly. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have done so by making records that sometimes journey outside their comfort zone - like their last one, 2014's mildly trippy Turn Blue - but always remain anchored by thoroughly solid songwriting.
'Let's Rock'
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