THE BLACK KEYS
REDIRECT: The Black Keys
Hacienda caught the attention of Dan Auerbach of the acclaimed blues-rock band the Black Keys, who produced both of their albums. One of Bomp! Records' recent coups was releasing the first album by this band in 2002 called the Big Come-Up; the new Black Keys album, Brothers is one of the standout albums of 2010, landing a Grammy nomination and a #2 ranking on the 2010 Albums of the Year by Rolling Stone, and even making Time Magazine's list of Best of 2010 in Music.
(January 2011)
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Of course, the other side of the complaint I mentioned above is that, sure enough, "they do still make 'em like they used to" from time to time. I heard an ad on VH1 the other day that used a killer track by the Black Keys as the background music. The success of this band – they've been going strong for more than a full decade now – proves that the garage rock revival of the early 2000's from bands like the White Stripes, the Hives, the Killers, Eagles of Death Metal, and Queens of the Stone Age still has some life in it. So far, I only have the Black Keys' first album, The Big Come-Up, but that won't be true much longer: For sure, I need their 2010 album Brothers, which won the Grammy for Best Alternative Album last year and also spawned a No. 1 alternative hit song for them, "Tighten Up". Their most recent album El Camino seems to be every bit as good.
(January 2012)
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Since this post, Hacienda released a third album in 2012, Shakedown. Dan Auerbach has been involved with their albums from the beginning, producing both of their first two releases, Loud is the Night and Big Red and Barbacoa. This time out, Auerbach also co-writes the songs with the bandmembers. I haven't picked up their third album yet; but Allmusic complains that this time, Dan Auerbach is beginning to overshadow the band's own personality with that of his band, the Black Keys.
(January 2013)
