DANGER! your band's been hijacked.

I need to rant a little bit about the Black Keys. Not so much about the Black Keys but about Danger Mouse. Ok, maybe both. I was first turned on to the Black Keys after they were three albums deep into their career. To this day Rubber Factory remains my favorite album in their catalogue. I was delighted to find The Big Come Up and thickfreakness and mostly enjoyed Magic Potion but when they were said to be working with Danger Mouse, the highly touted but mostly boring mind behind the epic Jay-Z/Beatles mash-up The Grey Album, I was skeptical. When I listened to their work together on Attack & Release I tried hard to be a believer. Songs like "Oceans and Streams" and "I Got Mine" gave me hope that the band had not abandoned the basement blues sound of their previous albums but over-produced snoozers like "Psychotic Girl" and the lead single "Strange Times" made it obvious that Danger Mouse was having too large an influence over their sound. That being said, it was different than what they had done before and that, coupled with the hiring of a highly popular outside producer in Danger Mouse, seemed to be enough to garner a larger audience. Fine.

I will admit that since Attack & Release I have become one of this people who says things like, "I knew this band before anyone else was listening to them" (an obvious lie to myself since I've already told you my first exposure to them came on their third album). What attracted to the band in the first place was their gritty, rawness. It was not surprising to learn that Attack & Release was the first album the band recorded in a professional studio. I liked that their prior records sounded dirty, or "unprofessional." Then along came Danger Mouse and ruined everything. Now, after releasing their fourth album with Danger Mouse at the helm, I've almost lost all interest in the band. I pick and choose songs from Brothers and  El Camino, which is probably their biggest commercial hit. I've been doing the same with their latest, Turn Blue. And when I heard "Year in Review" I nearly popped a blood vessel in my brain. Where is the damn guitar? This is a band that cites Howlin' Wolf and Robert Johnson as inspirations. And I had to actually try to hear the guitar. It's a catchy enough song but this band used to tear it up! In fact, four tracks earlier on the album opener "Weight of Love" I was practically giddy with guitar ruffage. I could only come to the conclusion that he'd finally done it, that Danger Mouse had completed his evil plan to take control of my beloved grease grinding, steel plowing, dust wielding, guitar bleeding band and turned them into lifeless, soul-less monotone drones like he has with so many other acts.

So folks, if you're U2 fans I suggest that you band together and intervene now because Danger Mouse has his sights set on your favorite band and he won't rest until he's sucked the fun out of them. 

Here's how the Black Keys used to sound:

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