TIGHTEN UP (The Black Keys)
“Tighten Up” is a song by American rock band The Black Keys. It is the third track on their 2010 album Brothers and was released as the record’s first single on May 18, 2010. The song has become one of the most successful Black Keys singles in the United States, being their first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching number one on the Alternative Songs and Rock Songs charts. Rolling Stone put the song on its list of the 15 Best Whistling Songs of All Time. At the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011, the song won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, while also receiving a nomination for Best Rock Song. (More from Wikipedia)
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. 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”.
(January 2012)
* * *
The king of all of the new garage-y bands is probably the blues-rock duo the Black Keys. The Black Keys won three Grammy Awards at the 2011 Grammy Awards from their album Brothers that also includes their hit single “Tighten Up” that made the top of the Alternative Rock Charts.
(January 2013)
* * *
Each album by the Black Keys seemed to be more popular than the one before, with 2010’s Brothers (and its top single “Tighten Up”) winning three Grammys and a #2 spot on Rolling Stone’s list of the best albums of 2011; El Camino (2012) leading to the band’s first arena tour; and their eighth and most recent album (and third collaboration with Danger Mouse), Turn Blue (2014) reaching the top of the album charts in the US, Canada, and Australia.
* * *
The cover of their breakthrough album, Brothers has a plain appearance and simply states: “This is an album by the Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers.” The cover of their hit single “Tighten Up” has similar packaging. (This is not the same song as the 1968 hit by Archie Bell and the Drells also called “Tighten Up”). According to Wikipedia: “Inside the package, the album’s disc was coated with a thermal film that changes colors (black and white) at different temperatures.” Remarkably, Patrick Carney’s brother Michael Carney, who has designed the album art for all of their records, won a Grammy in 2011 for Best Recording Package for Brothers.
(June 2017)
