Here’s what I lately bumped into: The Black Keys.
If you like pure rock music, this is for you. Thickfreakness is an album recorded with only two instruments: an overdriven guitar and a trashy drumset. The vocals are exceptional too. The voice alternates between Kurt Cobain in ‚You know you’re right’, Audioslave’s Chris Cornell in ‚Show me how to live’ and ‚Blurry’ by Puddle Of Mudd.
For me, this album is the soundtrack for a roadtrip in a convertible heading for the Pacific. You look at the deep sky, the setting sun blinds your eyes and the driving wind pulls on your hair. ‚Have love will travel’ is a great opener that conveys heaps of associations like that.
‚Everywhere I go’ prooves, that there is no need for speeding up the beat. The intro evolves unveils itself in one minute that passes quick. Due to the improvisonal sounding guitar, an atmosphere is established, that drags you in for the entire five minutes and makes your ears suck in even the last tone.
Great resonance between vocals and guitar shows ‚Hard Row’. Often the voice rises and falls right into the guitar’s tones that catches its fall smooth like marshmellows. On the other hand, the guitar provides rythm and drops into the voice’s chorus.
In general, I mujst say, the guitar play is exceptionally vituosic. A stable, rough rythm sets up the background without working counter the vocals. The resonance and interaction – the symbiosis of both elements are the greatest characteristic of this music. Great richness of bluesy licks and variations with vibratos, slide downs and muted tones can be heard in ‚Hold Me In Your Arms’. This shows you how dirty hard rock can sound. If I played the guitar, I wouldn't want to play any other sound.
The music is rough but brilliant. You couldn’t change one tone without getting this house of musical playing cards crashed. Speaking metaphorical. ‚Midnight In Her Eyes’ is another song that I absolutely couldn’t get out of my head. Now imagine me trying to sing this song as it sounds on the record. It’s impossible to have your throat roaring with that soft vibratos and that five-pints-of-beer charme! This is absolutely authentic singing from the heart. I’ve read that this album Thickfreakness was recorded in the band’s basement in 14 hours. Explains a lot, I reckon.
Buy it, Steal it, Load it - none of my business…
BUT - listen to it!
