Review: The Black Keys ‘Ohio Players’
By Hal Horowitz
The clever double-entendre title of The Black Keys’ 12th studio release Ohio Players reflects the state where they began while celebrating one of its most legendary soul bands.
Those wondering if frontman/singer/primary songwriter/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer co-founder Patrick Carney have gone on a full-blown “Love Rollercoaster” ride need not be concerned. Rather the Keys, still at it since 2001, who have typically featured high-profile guest musicians in the studio, bring in old friend Beck. He contributes to seven of these fourteen tracks, steering the duo, and an extensive backing troupe, into some of their most commercially friendly, yet still edgy, waters yet. Carney accurately describes the album as “an approachable fun record that is also cool.”
Also along is ex-Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher. He co-pens three tunes bringing distinctive Brit-pop to the table, especially in the melodic Beatle/Badfinger-esque pop of “On the Game” and the crisp, thumping rocker “Only Love Matters.” Those cleanly produced, instantly memorable melodies are far from the often raw, bluesy clutch the Keys have previously gravitated to, but also a welcome change of pace.
Still, “Live Til I Die” combines the Keys’ tougher roots with Beck’s trademarked floating accessibility for a mash-up that works in all the right ways. The same applies to the hip-hop punching out of “Candy and Her Friends,” a compelling combination of two songs, starting with Brit-pop then switching gears into hip-hop with rapping by Lil Noid.
They time travel back to 1969 Stax with a sensual reading of William Bell’s hit “I Forgot to Be Your Lover.” The classic, and this disc’s lone cover, gets a reverential reading by Auerbach as strings and organ bring the full soul experience. Carny’s drums drive the thumping “Please Me (Til I’m Satisfied)” a gutsy rocker with sinuous R&B underpinnings as Auerbach suggestively sings “Everybody say you’ll bring me to my knees/But we both know that we was born to please.”
The soul rocking continues with “You’ll Pay” as Auerback shifts into falsetto and the groove gets wild on the Ohio Players influenced funking, booty-shaking “Paper Crown.” That song changes tempos into swampy hip-hop with Beck and rapper Juicy J (from Three Six Mafia) guesting.
Feel like singing along? Cue up opening rocker “This is Nowhere” with Auerbach overdubbed on growling bass, and shout out the three word chorus as the band throbs. Then head to the garage for the mid-tempo grind of “Read ‘Em and Weep” with psychedelic reverbed surf guitar and Leon Michael’s saxes pushing the vibe into the red zone. Beck injects crunchy “nah nah nah” sugar to the retro-rocking nugget “Fever Tree” where the protagonist sings “All I want from you, is everything” as he buries his love beneath the titular item.
After two decades The Black Keys have this figured out; expanding boundaries before retrenching, then rebounding into different territory. That they sound as fresh and inspired as they do here, proves the concept still works. These veteran Ohio players, aided by a few influential friends, deliver some of their most provocative and jubilant recorded performances.
Pre-order Ohio Players Here
“Beautiful People (Stay High)”
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