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Brothers (The Black Keys album)

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Brothers is the sixth album and Grammy Award-winner of Best Alternative Music Album[1] by American blues-rock duo, The Black Keys. The album was announced on March 2, 2010 by Pitchfork Media[2] and became the band's third release from Nonesuch Records on May 18, 2010. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 with approximately 73,000 copies sold in the first week released, making the band's highest charting album to date.[3] In January 2011, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA for shipping over 500,000 copies.[4]

Background

In 2009, the band was experiencing conflict after vocalist Dan Auerbach released his solo album Keep It Hid. Auerbach explained that at that point it was hard to communicate to his bandmate, drummer Patrick Carney because of Carney's relationship with his wife. They went months without talking to each other. In the meantime, Carney worked on his own collaboration, Drummer and released the album Feel Good Together. In July 2009, Carney broke it off with his wife over the telephone while she was in Europe. After a few months passed, Carney and Auerbach talked and realized how important the band was to each other. Soon afterward, they reconvened in Alabama to work on Brothers, recording at the Muscle Shoals Odyssey Studio. There, they recorded 16 songs in 10 days.[5] The album was entirely produced by the band with the help of co-producer Mark Neill, except for the single "Tighten Up", which was produced by Danger Mouse. The album name pays tribute to Auerbach's and Carney's years of friendship. Auerbach explained, "We love each other, we get on each other's nerves, we piss each other off. But like brothers, we know it's all OK."[6]

Singles

The first single off the album is "Tighten Up". The song is The Black Keys most successful single yet, being the first charting song and reaching number one on the Alternative Songs and Rock Songs charts.[7] Mark C. Horn of Buzzbin Magazine describes the song, "The song intros with the distinct whistling from Ennio Morricone’s “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” composition, backed up by Carney’s monster thump drumming and Auerbach’s soulful vocal offerings.  Famed mega-star hip-hop and dance club producer Danger Mouse, who produced Attack and Release, produced the song, which was recorded at Brooklyn’s Bunker Studios."[8]

The official music video was released on May 18, 2010.[9] It shows Auerbach and his fictional son walking to the park. Auerbach sits next to Carney on a bench while their fictional sons play with toy trucks. Auerbach's son looks up on the playground to see a little girl, after which he starts to lip sync to the song. He climbs up on the playground and goes in to kiss her but then he opens his eyes to realize Carney's son has lured her away. After he attempts to kiss her, Auerbach's son begins to fight with Carney's son. After Auerbach and Carney attempt to break the fight up in vain, they see the mother of the girl and begin to fight like their sons. They hit each other using mostly Carney's drum set and after the woman sees them fighting, she walks away. Their sons come to them looking at them disappointingly.[10]

An official video has been released for the song “Howlin' for you”[11] although the song has not yet been officially announced as the band's next single. The video is directed by Chris Marrs Piliero and is a parody movie trailer. IMDB describes the video best by saying, “Alexa Wolff, a sexy assassin with a troubled past, unknowingly falls in love with the man who killed her father. He is not her first love, though. Two other men came before. But they would not have her. Now, all grown up with an appetite for revenge, Alexa’s leaving a trail of bloody corpses and broken hearts in her wake.”[12]

Packaging

The Black Keys performing in 2011

The album was designed by Michael Carney, Patrick Carney's brother. He won the 53rd Grammy Award for Best Packaging Design.[13] The packaging is designed to resemble a vinyl record jacket, with the old Nonesuch logo on the front cover in the lower left, and the words "STEREO SOUND" in the upper right. The album is littered with messages that identify everything, such as the front saying "This is an album by The Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers". When first opened, the label on the disc is almost entirely black. However, the label is heat-sensitive and turns white when played in a disc player for a long enough time. The label can also be revealed by touching the disc. On finding the heat-sensitive ink Carney told LA Times, “Before we started the design, I talked to the people [at the label] and said I’d heard of this ink. Literally, every ink supplier was contacted,” Carney said backstage after his win Sunday. “People are really open to making new packaging.”[13]

Included in the album sleeve is a poster with the lyrics on the back.

The font used, Cooper Black, has been used by other bands, including The Doors on L.A. Woman, In It for the Money by Supergrass and the cover of Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[14]
The A.V. Club(B+)[15]
Entertainment Weekly(B+)[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
The Sunday Times[18]
Seattle Weekly(favorable) [19]
Slant Magazine [20]
Houston Chronicle[21]
Pitchfork Media7.7/10[22]
Clash[23]

The album has garnered positive critical acclaim from critics and has an 82 rating of Universal Acclaim from Metacritic. Rolling Stone magazine placed the album at #2 on the Best Albums of 2010[24] and "Everlasting Light" at #11 on the Best Singles of 2010.[25] The album was also featured on Spin's Top 40 Albums of 2010[26] and Paste magazine's 50 Best Albums of 2010.[27]

The album was nominated for five 2011 Grammy Awards[28] the biggest win being Best Alternative Music Album. The single “Tighten Up” won the award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and was nominated for Best Rock Song. “Black Mud” was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.[1] The fifth nomination was for Grammy Award for Best Recording Package,[1] which they also won.

Liam Gallagher, formerly of rock band Oasis and currently in Beady Eye, stated on Radio 1 that this was one of his favorite albums of 2010.[29]

Two songs from the album, "Howlin for You" and "Tighten Up" were performed on Saturday Night Live January 8, 2011.[30]

They released a music video for "Howlin for You" with actresses Tricia Helfer and Diora Baird.

Track listing

All tracks written by Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Everlasting Light"3:24
2."Next Girl"3:18
3."Tighten Up"3:31
4."Howlin' for You"3:12
5."She's Long Gone"3:06
6."Black Mud"2:10
7."The Only One"5:00
8."Too Afraid to Love You"3:25
9."Ten Cent Pistol"4:29
10."Sinister Kid"3:45
11."The Go Getter"3:37
12."I'm Not the One"3:49
13."Unknown Brother"4:00
14."Never Gonna Give You Up" (Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, Jerry Butler)3:39
15."These Days"5:12

Bonus Tracks

No.TitleLength
16."Ohio" (7" vinyl or free download for members of the band's website)4:29
17."Howlin' for You (feat. Prins Thomas Diskomiks)" (Available on iTunes)7:27

Personnel

The Black Keys

Production

References

  1. ^ a b c "nominees and winners". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 21, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Grammy.com" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ Phillips, Amy (March 2, 2010). "The Black Keys Announce New Album". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  3. ^ "The Black Keys' "Brothers" Debuts at No. 3 on Billboard Album Chart with Band's Best One-Week Sales Ever". Nonesuch Records. May 26, 2010. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  4. ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  5. ^ Hoard, Christian (2009-12-10). "The Black Keys Muscle Shoals Odyssey". Rolling Stone (1093): 22. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
  6. ^ Eells, Josh (2010-05-27). "Two Against Nature". Rolling Stone (1108): 48–80. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
  7. ^ "Tighten Up- The Black Keys". Billboard. March 30, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  8. ^ "Interview: The Black Keys, Brothers". Buzzbin Magazine. May 7, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  9. ^ "Interview: The Black Keys' "Tighten Up" Video: Small Children Beat Dan and Patrick". Seattle Weekly. May 19, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  10. ^ "Interview: Tighten Up Official Video Premiere". Warner Bros. Records. May 18, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  11. ^ "Howlin' for You". Warner Bros. Records. February 10, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  12. ^ "Howlin' for You". IMDB.COM,INC. February 10, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  13. ^ a b "Grammy Awards: Black Keys' 'Brothers" album designer Michael Carney talks recording package win". The L.A. Times. February 13, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  14. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Brothers at AllMusic. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  15. ^ Murray, Noel (May 18, 2010). "The A.V. Club review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 6, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ Greenblatt, Leah (May 12, 2010). "Entertainment Weekly review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 6, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Fricke, David (May 17, 2010). "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 6, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Cairns, Dan (May 16, 2010). "The Sunday Times review". The Sunday Times. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  19. ^ Seely, Mike (May 18, 2010). "Black Keys' Brothers An Epic Example of Eclecticism With Purpose". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  20. ^ Keefe, Jonathan (May 16, 2010). "The Black Keys: Brothers". Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  21. ^ Dansby, Andrew (May 14, 2010). "Review: The Black Keys return to their rock roots". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  22. ^ Fitzmaurice, Larry (May 19, 2010). "Pitchfork Media review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved February 6, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ Younis, Reef (May 17, 2010). "Clash Magazine review". Clash. Retrieved February 6, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ "Rolling Stone's Best Albums of 2010". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 6, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ "Rolling Stone's Best Singles of 2010". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 6, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ "Spin's 40 Best Albums of 2010". Spin Magazine. Retrieved February 8, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2010". Paste Magazine. Retrieved February 8, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ "The Black Keys Score Five Grammy Nominations". The Akron Beacon Journal. December 2, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
  29. ^ Goodman, William (January 27, 2011). "Liam Gallagher on His New Band, Beady Eye". spin.com. Retrieved 6 February 2011. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "Saturday Night Live Episode Recap". Saturday Night Live. Retrieved February 8, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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