Let's Rock

The Black Keys have their first new album in five years, called Let's Rock (the title comes from the last words of a prisoner executed in Tennessee) and it's just okay.

Except for a couple of backup singers, the album was entirely performed by Daniel Auerbach and Patrick Carney, with no keyboards. I guess that's fine, as they wanted to get to a garage rock sound, but I found the songs uninspired and the lyrics especially derivative. The songs are mostly about relationships, and a few of the titles are borrowed: "Tell Me Lies," "Every Little Thing," and strangely, "Fire Walk With Me," which was used by David Lynch.

The overall sound is solidly AOR, without much experimentation. As I sit here now after listening to the record three times, I can't hum any of the songs. They certainly aren't bad, and I could listen to them again,  but I wonder at the creative drive that led to this album. It feels like it was made just because it was time for another Black Keys album.

Auerbach and Carney have been involved in other projects in between Black Keys albums; perhaps their creative juices were focused their. Let's Rock doesn't really rock that much, and while it would be a good album for almost anyone else, for them it's a let down.