The Black Keys

The last Black Keys album, 2010’s Brothers, was the record that took the scruffy garage-rock duo from cult heroes to household names after a decade of touring and recording their hipster tail feathers off. This is the kind of hard-earned success that typically indicates a band is no overnight success—The Black Keys are here to stay. So consider their latest effort, El Camino, the medium through which they enjoy an overblown national victory lap. Frontman/guitarist Dan Auerbach’s ridiculously catchy fuzz-box leads are as fuzzy and catchy as ever, and drummer Patrick Carney still has a knack for reviving cliché classic-rock drum patterns and making them seem all fresh and hip. While Brothers had a slow, ’60s soul vibe, El Camino has a surplus (and by surplus I mean the exact right amount) of foot-stomping blues anthems with electronic undertones. There are tracks and moments throughout that seem all too familiar, but get over it. If you can only listen to one track for some really weird reason, check out “Little Black Submarine.” You’ll weep, you’ll bang your head and then you’ll play it again.