the black keys

The Akron, Ohio-based duo, The Black Keys, is well known for its concentrated, hermetic approach to recording, hunkering down with rudimentary equipment in an unfinished basement or commandeering the floor of a vacant local rubber factory to create terse but soulful rock that seems to have time-traveled into the pair's amps from some long-ago radio show. The Black Keys blues rock catalogue is pure rock'n'roll goodness. The key to Auerbach's success comes from American primitivism (the genre tag applied to guitarist John Fahey in the late 50s). He has the ability to unleash passion and anger through his playing, creating a rock'n'roll aesthetic that is defined not by its purity, but rather the soulfulness and essential fun of pure, drone-heavy electric blues. A must-listen especially if you like The Stooges, The White Stripes, or The Raconteurs.