The Black Keys new album - "Brothers"

[CortezTheKiller]

dan's singing is particularly good.

Particularly his falsetto on "The Only One". I can't get enough of that song.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Just got 4th row tickets to see them in DC this summer. Brothers is still kicking my ass, so I'm psyched to see them.

[Winston Legthigh]

NPR is streaming the album...

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126607501

[choo-choo-charlie]

While I still can't resist the raw simplicity of The Big Come Up, I applauded The Black Keys for spreading their wings a bit more on the last few records. All of their stuff is solid, but I began to lose interest after the third or fourth record, not as a result of disliking the music (even though it began to move in a different direction) - I was just more occupied with other bands. Brothers has brought me back into the game.

[bttrbuffalo]

It's great. I don't know if I like ti more than Magic Potion but it is still pretty fuckin dank.

[tangara]

I like it all right...it lags a bit in the middle IMO, but the closing track is a stunner.

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

I'm hoping to make it down to Penn's Landing in Philadelphia to see them at the end of July. In the meantime, if anybody is in the NYC-area, they posted on Facebook about an hour ago that they're having a free show tonight:

 

 

FREE show tonight at 9PM at the Classic Car Club at 250 Hudson St in New York. With New York Night Train's Jonathan Toubin warming things up. Not only is it FREE to get in, its an OPEN BAR (for those with ID), but NO guestlist. It's purely first come first served and it is 18 and up. So I would recommend grabbing your ...friends and getting down there as soon as possible to hold your place in line.

 

[marino13]

Anyone get the physical cd yet? What a cool surprise!! In the thousands of discs I've handled in my life I have never seen this done before.

[GtrPlyr]

Anyone get the physical cd yet? What a cool surprise!! In the thousands of discs I've handled in my life I have never seen this done before.

I wasn't sure what you were talking about, then I ejected the CD from my player . Cool!

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Shit, now I'm excited to get my copy. I have no idea what this could be.

[tangara]

Kinda freaked me out, not gonna lie.

[Maggie]

Anyone get the physical cd yet? What a cool surprise!! In the thousands of discs I've handled in my life I have never seen this done before.

 

Thanks for letting us know. I got mp3's with my preorder, so I wasn't planning on putting my copy in the computer. Very cool.

[Moss]

Anyone get the physical cd yet? What a cool surprise!! In the thousands of discs I've handled in my life I have never seen this done before.

 

I'm not going to lie, I wish I knew what the hell everyone was talking about. I will be buying the CD though so I guess I will find out.

[stooka]

I bought Brothers and the new Dead Weather. Sorry Jack, but your record just doesn't measure up to the quality The Black Keys are producing. In fact, it's safe for me to say that Brothers is the best record I've heard so far this year.

[Moss]

I don't get it, pitchfork gives the album a 7.7 and basically says the only thing that keeps it from being great it's too long and has too many good songs that they should have saved for their next record? Moronic.

[bleedorange]

I don't get it, pitchfork gives the album a 7.7 and basically says the only thing that keeps it from being great it's too long and has too many good songs that they should have saved for their next record? Moronic.

 

The way I read it sounded like a fair criticism. Padding an album with decent songs brings down the overall quality.

[solace]

but there's only one song on the album that doesn't completely rule ('Go Getter')

it just bugs me that some younger folks can't enjoy an album that's only 55 minutes long

 

Pitchfork has always WAAAAAY underrated The Black Keys, so it's no surprise (if not still a bit annoying)

[bleedorange]

but there's only one song on the album that doesn't completely rule ('Go Getter')

it just bugs me that some younger folks can't enjoy an album that's only 55 minutes long

 

Pitchfork has always WAAAAAY underrated The Black Keys, so it's no surprise (if not still a bit annoying)

 

Maybe. Perhaps the reviewer doesn't share your opinion on how many songs don't completely rule. I still need to listen to this. Is it worth buying the CD for whatever surprise there is, or should I just download it?

[marino13]

Maybe. Perhaps the reviewer doesn't share your opinion on how many songs don't completely rule. I still need to listen to this. Is it worth buying the CD for whatever surprise there is, or should I just download it?

 

If you want to know the surprise, look here and decide for yourself whether it's worth purchasing. It's 7.99 at Best Buy this week. I know it's not indie, but hard to pass up at that price.

 

 

The cd is all black with black writing that you can barely make out. After it warms up in your player, it turns white with black writing. So basically, it changes color with heat/cold.

 

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

I don't get it, pitchfork gives the album a 7.7 and basically says the only thing that keeps it from being great it's too long and has too many good songs that they should have saved for their next record? Moronic.

I think the record is great, but I think that review was entirely fair. Cut a few songs off and release them as b-sides and you could have an absolutely stunning 43/45 minute album. As is, it's still stunning. But my only possible complaint is the running time.

[lamradio]

Yeah, this is some effin good stuff. I've never given the keys a chance in the past.. Just briefly listened to a track or to of their older stuff, but it never really caught me... But when you guys start calling it "stunning" I had to give them another chance.... Yep, I'll be going to see them in Asheville in September...

[solace]

Maybe. Perhaps the reviewer doesn't share your opinion on how many songs don't completely rule. I still need to listen to this. Is it worth buying the CD for whatever surprise there is, or should I just download it?

 

could be, but he prefaces it to seem like 55 minutes = far too long for any record

[RaspberryJam]

I bought the whole vinyl+cd+mp3. I wish the USPS was quicker. Sigh.

[drop dead ed]

they always play neat cover versions

 

bought the album yesterday and I like

 

unknown brother

Howlin' for you

never gonna give you up

 

It's all great stuff.

[Moss]

If there's one thing that keeps Brothers from jumping the gap between a "very good" album and a "great" album, it's the running time. When it's all said and done, the 15-track set runs almost an hour long, causing one to think that the Keys might have done the best material here a disservice by shoving so much onto one album when they could've easily saved some up for their next release. It makes a skeptical fan like myself wonder if the Keys spent themselves creatively here, and if the next record will just be more back-to-basics trad-blues mediocrity. If the next Black Keys record builds on Brothers, though, they still have some good music ahead of them.

 

I don't know, he makes it sound like running time is the issue, not filler. And he is concerned that they put so much good stuff on this album that the next album is going to suffer. How about we wait until the next album to worry about that? I don't see what's wrong with a long running time. Feel free to skip through a few if it bothers you.