And that's saying something for Auerbach's vocals which get better every time he makes another record. Their version is grittier, for sure, but no less soulful. They rock the xylophone and fuzz guitar in equal measure on this unexpected cover of a soulful Jerry Butler classic, as featured on "Brothers." And they manage to make it their own without abandoned the qualities that made it work for Butler. 2 on Billboard's alternative-songs chart and No. The final "El Camino" single, this one peaked at No. And that's not the first time you could say that for a Black Keys song. The vocal hook is classic Auerbach, as is the solo, but what really seals the deal here are those high-pitched backing vocals. Then, the distorted guitars and drums come in to rock a riff I'm pretty sure is from an old Tom Petty song. It starts with Auerbach's understated vocal and a finger-picked acoustic that sounds like something Paul McCartney might have played on the day of a "White Album" session (the same day Lennon might have played "So He Won't Break"). It's a breakup song, led by a wounded Dan Auerbach setting the tone with "When I hear them use your name / I get all choked up inside / It's not only from the shame / It's like 10 different lovers died / Except you're still just a mile away / But there's nothing left to say." Dre would have sampled it, slowing it down to syrupy swagger, which is kind of weird when you consider all the years they went without a proper touring bassist. This song is driven by a very funky bassline that grooves like Big Audio Dynamite's "Bottom Line" as Dr.
US Airways Center, Second and Jefferson streets, Phoenix. This is one critic's take on their 25 best songs, from "The Breaks" to "Fever."ĭetails: 8 p.m. And perhaps more surprisingly, they've been able to take rock and roll - of the variety Mick Jagger clearly had in mind when he sang "But I like it" - to the masses again. From the primitive swagger of 2002's "The Big Come Up" through the atmospheric, Grammy-winning whistling break of "Tighten Up" to "Turn Blue," which earlier this year became their first release to top the Billboard album charts, the Keys have managed to evolve without abandoning the qualities that made them matter in the first place. It's kind of ridiculous how consistent guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney have been since rolling out of Akron, Ohio, as a scrappy little blues-punk duo called the Black Keys.