The Black Keys: PEACHES 'N KREAM

Performers

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  The Black Keys

  The Black Keys are a two-man blues-rock group from Akron, Ohio, United States which formed in 2001, consisting of singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney. The band name was inspired by a schizophrenic artist and friend in Akron, who used the term "black keys" to describe things he disliked or people he did not trust. The Black Keys have roots in traditional blues and psychedelic rock stylings.

  They released their first album, The Big Come Up, in 2002, followed by Thickfreakness in 2003, and Rubber Factory in 2004. October 2005 saw the release of the DVD Live, recorded live at The Metro Theatre in Sydney, Australia March 18, 2005. In 2006 they released Magic Potion, as well as the lesser-known Chulahoma and a single version of Your Touch.

  One of their trademarks is their preference for simple, lo-fi recording techniques. They refuse to use big-name studios, and do most recording, producing, and mixing themselves. Most of Thickfreakness was recorded in about 14 hours in Carney's basement, using only an early 80's Tascam 388 8-track recorder. Often, their recordings still have background noises (such as an owl hooting).

  The Black Keys have achieved increasing critical acclaim and recognition since their debut album, which itself received praise from Rolling Stone magazine. Time magazine named them one of the "10 Best Acts of 2003" (behind OutKast and The White Stripes). They have supported a number of bands: they toured with Sleater-Kinney in 2003, had a short stint opening for Beck, have recently opened for Radiohead on the American leg of their brief 2006 tour, and performed at Lollapalooza in 2005 and 2007. In addition to this, they were also well-liked by influential British radio DJ John Peel and appeared on both Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Late Show with David Letterman. Famous followers of the band include Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, and Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammet. Matt Helders, drummer for the Arctic Monkeys, can be seen in a Black Keys T-Shirt in an interview on MTV's RAW.

  The Black Keys have recieved a good deal of commercial recognition as well: 'Set You Free' was included on the soundtrack of the 2003 movie School of Rock, 'Girl is on My Mind' was used in a 2006 Sony Ericsson advertisement, which starred the tennis players Ana Ivanović and Daniela Hantuchova, and 'The Desperate Man' was used in a 2006 Victoria's Secret commercial featuring Heidi Klum. 'Your Touch' was featured in an episode of HBO's 'Entourage'. Their song "Your Touch" was featured in a 2007 Lee's jeans commercial. 'When The Lights Go Out' is the opening track in Craig Brewer's 'Black Snake Moan'

  Their new record the Danger Mouse produced Attack & Release was out April 1st 2008. The duo's fifth it is the first one recorded in a proper studio.

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  Robert Finley

  “I remember the first time my pawpaw took me down to the Black Bayou,” Robert Finley recalls on “Alligator Bait,” a talking blues that closes out his visceral and vibrant new record. As the guitars pop and crackle around him, coalescing into a slow rhythmic crawl like an airboat along muddy waters, the 70-year-old Louisiana native casts back in his memory for this harrowing story. Dressed in swamp boots and waders, the kid “stepped on a log and the log moved!” His grandfather shot the gator that snapped at him, but the boy quickly realized that he was intended as bait. There’s some humor to the outrageous incident, but the song emphasizes the tragedy of it: how he was never able to forgive his grandfather for risking his young life, how the incident drove a wedge through several generations of Finleys.
  “A song should tell a good story,” says Robert Finley sixty years later. “By the time you hear it beginning to end, it should be like reading a short story or a novel. It should be more than just a laugh. It should leave some kind of impression on whoever’s listening to it. And it should stay as close to the truth as possible.”