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El Camino (The Black Keys album)

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El Camino is the seventh studio album by American rock duo The Black Keys. It was co-produced by Danger Mouse and the band, and was released on December 6, 2011 on Nonesuch Records.[1] The album was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at Easy Eye Sound Studio, which was opened in 2010 by guitarist Dan Auerbach. The record draws influences from early American music and popular genres from the 1950s–1970s, such as rock and roll, soul, and glam rock. Based on the difficulty the group had performing some of the slower songs from their previous album Brothers live, they conceived more uptempo tracks for El Camino. Danger Mouse contributed as a co-writer on each of the 11 songs.

El Camino was preceded by lead single "Lonely Boy", which was released in October accompanied by a popular one-shot music video of a man dancing. A faux newspaper advertisement and parody car commercial advertising the band's old tour van as an "El Camino" were used to promote the record prior to release. The album received positive reviews from critics and was ranked by many music publications as one of the best albums of the year. In the US, it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and sold 206,000 copies in its first week, the highest charting position and single-week sales the group has achieved in the country.

Recording and production

The Black Keys' sixth studio album Brothers, released in May 2010, was a commercial breakthrough for the group. Midway through 2010, guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach relocated from the group's longtime hometown of Akron, Ohio to Nashville, Tennessee, where he built Easy Eye Sound Studio in an industrial part of city with the intention of having the band record there.[2][3] Auerbach spoke of the pressure and expectations that followed the success of Brothers: "For me, there were physical jitters about everything that was going on. Seeing how big the shows were getting, feeling like people were paying attention, kind of made me anxious, and I think that's part of the reason these songs are so fast. I think we wanted to just muscle through it."[2] On the other hand, drummer Patrick Carney called the El Camino recording sessions much more relaxed than those for Brothers, when he had been dealing with the divorce from his wife.[4]

Danger Mouse co-produced the record and contributed as an equal songwriter with the band.

Recording for El Camino began on March 3, 2011. The band hired Danger Mouse to co-produce the record with them, based on his experience producing their 2008 album Attack & Release and their 2010 breakthrough single "Tighten Up". Danger Mouse served as co-writer for all of the songs. Speaking of their willingness to involve him in the songwriting process, Carney said, "It took us a long time to be able to trust somebody like that, and not be arrogant little kids about it."[2]

In contrast to their previous records, The Black Keys entered the studio for their new album without having developed any new material.[3] Each day, the band began from scratch and in Auerbach's words, "brainstormed until we had songs".[3][5] The material was then refined over several days, and after arrangements were agreed upon, the group quickly finished recording the songs, often in just one or two takes. For the first time, the band deliberated over the musical details of each song. Auerbach said, "we were getting into the nuances of each song by asking ourselves, 'How long should this intro be? How long should the pre-chorus be? Should there even be a pre-chorus?' We were playing with tempos and BPMs, seeing how a vocal hook does or doesn't work at a faster speed. And usually, we went with the faster option."[3] Differing from the band's lyrics-first approach on Brothers, the lyrics for El Camino were written after the music, often being improvised at the microphone. Auerbach said, "the words had to fit in this pre-existing space. It was really confining and totally different from anything I'd done before."[6] The band focused on the vocal melodies more so than the lyrics[5]—Auerbach admitted that lyrically, "None of these songs really have any meaning."[6]

The group wrote the new songs during the tour for Brothers, but the hectic concert schedule resulted in them splitting time between touring and recording, forcing them to travel back and forth between their shows and Easy Eye Sound Studio. Overall, the group spent 41 days recording El Camino, the longest it had taken them to record any album.[3] The album was recorded using a Quad-8 mixing console that was first installed in Nashville's Creative Workshop studio in 1969 and later bought by Auerbach from a man in North Carolina. During the sessions, the band listened to playback of their progress on a speaker they purchased from Muscle Shoals Sound Studio after the last day of recording Brothers. The bathroom of Easy Eye Sound Studios served as an echo chamber for recording vocals and handclaps.[7]

Composition

El Camino follows The Black Keys' garage rock formula but places less emphasis on blues than the group's previous records. The album instead draws more influence from other forms of early American music and popular genres from the 1950s–1970s, including rock and roll, soul, glam rock, R&B, rockabilly, and surf rock. Carney explained the album's direction: "After the first three or four songs were recorded, it kind of became apparent that they're all rooted in this early rock and roll feel. It was around that time that we decided to make a whole album that was built around that."[8] The band cited several retro acts as influences on the album, including The Clash, The Cramps, The Cars,[9] T. Rex, Ramones, and The Beatles.[10]

In contrast to some of the slower, quieter tracks from Brothers, the songs on El Camino are more uptempo and riff-driven. During the tour for Brothers, The Black Keys realized that many of that album's songs were too slow to translate to a live setting, which led them to write more uptempo material for El Camino. Carney said, "This record stemmed from that, the fact that it's easier for our songs to come across well live if they are fast. So we were just trying to make a guitar rock album that was more upbeat than anything we've ever recorded".[10]

Packaging and title

The vehicle on the cover is not the album's namesake, a Chevrolet El Camino (top), but rather a Chrysler Town & Country (bottom) that the duo used to tour in.

The album was named for the Chevrolet El Camino, a coupé utility car, after the duo saw it on tour and thought it would be a "cool" title.[5][11] Despite the album title, the vehicle on the cover is not an El Camino but rather a Chrysler Town & Country van that the band toured in at the beginning of their career.[11][12] "El camino" is Spanish for "the road" or "the path". The band found out the phrase's meaning after selecting it as an album title, and they joked about the record taking on deeper meaning afterwards.[11] The interior sleeve booklet for the album features images of various vans from Akron, Ohio.[11]

Promotion and release

Prior to the release of El Camino, promotional copies were limited to a small pressing of just 50, given mostly to music labels and The Black Keys' manager. Preview listens for journalists were strictly controlled to only one-time listens and they were held within the duo's manager's office, an uncommon practice within the music industry.[13] The group opted to withhold the record from music streaming services, citing financial reasons. Carney said that streaming services are not yet "at a point where you're able to replace royalties from record sales with the royalties from streams. For a band that makes a living selling music, it's not at a point where it's feasible for us."[14] As is common practice for the band, several songs from the album were licensed for use in a wide range of popular media, including ESPN's Band of the Month for December, Lifetime's TV drama Army Wives, and the PlayStation 3 video game MLB 12: The Show.[15]

According to the band's art director, Patrick Carney's brother Michael Carney, the promotional strategy for the album embraces "the spirit of doing it the wrong way".[15] Warner Bros. Records COO Livia Tortella elaborated that "They've latched onto that idea at a time when the real spirit of alternative has, in many ways, gone away from our music. The spirit of rock should be that: outside of the norm, not just mainstream and predictable."[15] The music video for their lead single "Lonely Boy" was supposed to be multifaceted and employ a big budget, but the group decided instead to limit the video to one-shot footage of extra and part-time security guard Derrick Tuggle dancing. The video went viral, garnering more than 400,000 views on YouTube in 24 hours.[16] On October 9, 2011, the band placed an ad in the Akron Beacon Journal advertising their used tour van as a "1994 El Camino" for sale. The phone number in the ad led to a recorded message of Carney describing the car and asking for the caller to leave a message.[17] The following day, the band posted a video on YouTube parodying a low-budget used car commercial for the same van. Actor/comedian Bob Odenkirk plays the salesman in the video. The band launched a website called WannaBuyAVan.com to support the video and the faux newspaper advertisement.[15]

The album's release date of December 6, 2011 contrasts with the conventional record release strategy within the music industry. Patrick Carney said, "There's a rule you release albums in February–March, then you tour the summer. Then there's the September–October schedule. Our new album is out on December 6. I asked the label for a list of major rock bands that had released albums in December. In the last 10 years there's maybe four. But our manager said it's a shame more bands don't, 'cos it would force the industry not to shut down. So we're going to try it."[18] The Black Keys appeared as the musical guest on American television sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live on December 3, 2011, and they performed "Lonely Boy" and "Gold on the Ceiling".[19] It was the first time in the show's history that a non-hosting musical act performed on the show twice in a single calendar year,[20] following their earlier appearance on SNL in January 2011.[19] Two days later, the group held an album release concert at Webster Hall in New York City that was streamed live on MTVHive.com.[21] The group made several appearances on late-night talk shows, including Late Show with David Letterman and The Colbert Report,[22] as well as at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards.[23]

In the US, El Camino debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and sold 206,000 copies in its first week on sale. This marks the highest album charting position and single-week sales the group has achieved in the country.[24] In Canada, the album debuted at number three on the Canadian Albums Chart and sold 27,000 copies in its first week.[25] In its first two weeks on sales, El Camino sold nearly 293,000 copies in the US.[26] "Lonely Boy" has become one of the group's most successful singles. In the US, the single peaked at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 while topping the Alternative Songs and Rock Songs charts.[27] The track is the group's highest-charting single in Canada, having reached number 33 on the Canadian Hot 100.[28]

Reception

Critical reaction

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic83/100[29]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[30]
The Daily Telegraph
Entertainment WeeklyA–[31]
The Guardian[32]
Los Angeles Times[33]
NME(7/10)[34]
The Observer[35]
Pitchfork Media(7.4/10)[36]
Rolling Stone[37]
Spin(8/10)[38]

El Camino received positive reviews from music critics. According to review aggregator website Metacritic, the album received an average score of 83/100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "Universal acclaim".[29] Spin gave the record an 8/10 rating, calling it "irresistibly gaudy" and "catchier, glitzier, ballsier". The reviewer said the songs contain "classic cock-rock sonic tchotchkes: handclaps, talk-box guitar breaks, rainbow keyboards. The overall effect is something akin to ZZ Top with glitter in their beards."[38] Melissa Maerz of Entertainment Weekly gave the record an "A–", writing that the group "make a small-room racket that sounds massive enough for a bigger-is-better world". Maerz said that "El Camino trades the soulful stylings of Brothers for harder-driving, faster-riffing rock & roll".[31] James Lachno of The Daily Telegraph rated the album four-stars-out-of-five, praising Danger Mouse for "sharpen[ing] up the sweet, melodic choruses that offset the duo's unholy racket" and give each song a "timeless quality, as suited to a Seventies mid-west saloon as a students' indie disco". Despite what Lachno judged as "tawdry" lyrics, according to him, "the Black Keys are here to rock, not talk. On this evidence, few bands right now do it better."[39] Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times assigned the album a maximum four-star rating, calling it "butt-shaking music" and "an album with lyrics that are both unpretentious and un-dumb". Roberts praised the nostalgic elements of the group's music and explained that the album "scratches an itch you didn't even know you had".[33]

Michael Hann of The Guardian gave the record a maximum rating of five stars, writing that it is "dripping with an easy, attractive confidence". Commenting on the various musical influences on the album, Hann said, "they stride fearlessly into areas that might once have been off-limits". His review concluded, "They sound like a band who think they've made the year's best rock'n'roll album, probably because that's exactly what they've done."[32] Rob Harvilla of Pitchfork Media scored El Camino a 7.4/10 and called it "their best and (not coincidentally) goofiest album". Describing the music, he said, "The riffs are glam-nasty, the lyrics sublimely knuckleheaded, the basslines nimble and bombastic, the mood frivolous and fun and unabashedly corny."[36] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone rated the album four stars and called it their "grandest pop gesture yet, augmenting dark-hearted fuzz blasts with sleekly sexy choruses and Seventies-glam flair".[37] Allmusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album four-and-a-half stars and said, "More than any other Black Keys album, El Camino is an outright party, playing like a collection of 11 lost 45 singles, each one having a bigger beat or dirtier hook than the previous side."[30] Kitty Empire of The Observer was more critical of the album; in a three-star review, Empire commented that it sounded like Danger Mouse "tightened up the Black Keys' act rather than loosened it" and that "El Camino may be fast and fun, but it is also somewhat undemanding." The reviewer noted that the album had "increased vigour", but that it came at the expense of "the subtleties that made Brothers such an intriguing ride."[35]

Accolades

El Camino appeared on several end-of-year rankings by music publications and critics. Rolling Stone ranked it as the 12th-best album of 2011.[40] Spin placed it at number 36 on its list of the 50 best albums of the year, writing, "Glam-blooze guitar, poppy melodies, and hockey-rink keyboards fit the Keys like vintage denim."[41] Paste ranked the record as the 22nd-best of the year before it had been released.[42] Claire Suddath of Time magazine named El Camino one of the Top 10 Albums of 2011,[43] while the staff of Allmusic selected the album as one of their favorites of the year.[44] In end-of-year polls, writers for Rolling Stone selected "Little Black Submarines" as the 18th-best song of 2011,[45] while the publication's readers voted "Lonely Boy" the year's third-best song.[46]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney and Brian Burton

No.TitleLength
1."Lonely Boy"3:13
2."Dead and Gone"3:41
3."Gold on the Ceiling"3:44
4."Little Black Submarines"4:11
5."Money Maker"2:57
6."Run Right Back"3:17
7."Sister"3:25
8."Hell of a Season"3:45
9."Stop Stop"3:30
10."Nova Baby"3:27
11."Mind Eraser"3:15
Total length:37:42

Charting

Single charts
Year Single Peak chart positions
US
[27] 		US Alt.
[27] 		US Rock
[27] 		US Heatseekers
[27] 		CAN
[28] 		CAN Rock
[28] 		CAN Alt. Rock
[28]
2011 "Lonely Boy" 64 1 1 6 33 2 1

Personnel

References

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  4. ^ Fitzmaurice, Larry (2011-12-06). "The Black Keys' Patrick Carney Talks El Camino, BlakRoc, Black Eyed Peas". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
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  6. ^ a b Downing, Andy (2011-12-15). "Keyed up: The Black Keys take 'El Camino' for a drive — plus the 19 other albums we loved in 2011". 77 Square. Lee Enterprises and The Capital Times Company. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
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  12. ^ Leahey, Andrew (2011-12-05). "The Black Keys: El Camino". American Songwriter. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  13. ^ Rodgers, D. Patrick (2011-12-08). "With their brand-new El Camino, Nashville residents The Black Keys move in a different direction, but keep their record-nerd fans". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
  14. ^ Perpetua, Matthew (2011-12-13). "Black Keys: Why We Won't Stream 'El Camino'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
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  17. ^ "New Release: The Black Keys El Camino December 6". The Black Keys Fan Lounge. Retrieved October 10, 2011. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  18. ^ "Do it yourself – The Black Keys". Esquire.co.uk. Hearst Corporation. 2011-12-05. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
  19. ^ a b Hogan, Marc (2011-12-05). "Watch the Black Keys' Triumphant Return to 'SNL'". Spin.com. Spin Media LLC. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  20. ^ Abram, Malcolm X (2011-12-05). "'El Camino' should keep Black Keys on road to success". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  21. ^ Brown, Harley (2011-12-05). "Webcast: The Black Keys' album release show". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  22. ^ Lewis, Dave (2011-12-02). "The Black Keys plan U.S. tour behind 'El Camino'". HitFix. Retrieved 2011-12-06.
  23. ^ "Watch: The Black Keys Perform "Lonely Boy" at Video Game Awards". Nonesuch Records. 2011-12-11. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
  24. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith (2011-12-14). "Michael Buble's 'Christmas' Stays Atop Billboard 200, Black Keys Hit No. 2". Billboard.com. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
  25. ^ a b Williams, John (2011-12-14). "Buble sets 2011 sales mark". Jam! Showbiz. CANOE, Inc. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  26. ^ Willman, Chris (2011-12-27). "Thanks to Gaga, Adele, music business finally improves in 2011". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
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  29. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for El Camino". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
  30. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "El Camino – The Black Keys". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  31. ^ a b Maerz, Melissa (2011-12-09). "El Camino (2011): The Black Keys". Entertainment Weekly (1184). Retrieved 2011-12-08.
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  34. ^ Richards, Sam (2011-12-02). "Album Review: The Black Keys - 'El Camino'". NME. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
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  42. ^ Jackson, Josh (2011-11-29). "The 50 Best Albums of 2011". Paste. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
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  45. ^ Anderson, Stacey, Jon Dolan, David Fricke, Will Hermes, Monica Herrera, Jody Rosen, Rob Sheffield, and Simon Vozick-Levison. "50 Best Singles of 2011: 18. Black Keys, 'Little Black Submarines'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-12-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  46. ^ "Readers' Poll: The Best Songs of 2011: 3. The Black Keys, 'Lonely Boy'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
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  52. ^ El Camino (Media notes). Nonesuch Records. 2011. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |bandname= ignored (help)
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