Why I Fucking HATE Gumby (702 hits)
Category: Sound & MusicRating: -0.6 on 16 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by PepsiCoke (View user info) at 2008-03-02 01:40:48 EST
No, I actually love Gumby. He's my buddy.
Here's an album review. This review comes a mere three and a half years after the album's release.
Rubber Factory (2004)
The Black Keys
The first Black Keys album I bought was Thickfreakness. I bought it without having heard more than a few of the band's songs, but how could I not buy an album with such a great title and cover (http://www.jambase.com/merch/3470lg.jpg)? I liked Thickfreakness but didn't love it. I had heard the Black Keys being billed as a bluesier version of the White Stripes, which sounded great to me so I was a bit disappointed to find that Thickfreakness didn't totally blow my mind. I didn't buy any more Black Keys discs until Magic Potion was released a little over a year ago. I had heard the song "Just Got To Be" and decided to pick up the album, which turned out to be very impressive. It motivated me to buy Rubber Factory, which I've come to believe is their crowning achievement at this point in their existence.
Dan Auerbach is definitely on my short list of favorite active guitarists. It's hard to describe his playing because there are so many things he does well. He has a fantastic ear for good tones. His phrasing is tasteful and usually not too complicated. His economy of style doesn't prevent him from filling out the group's sound with or without the use of overdubs. There are thousands of faster and flashier guitarists out there, but someone with Dan Auerbach's taste and touch only comes around every once in a while. In every note you can hear how much he loves his instrument.
Rubber Factory starts out surprisingly mellow the with the slow, whining blues stomp of "When The Lights Go Out". It seems that the obvious choice for the first song would've been "10 A.M. Automatic" which is the second track. It's energetic, loud, simple, and riff-tastic, and for those reasons one of the Black Keys most well-known songs. I think that as a singer Auerbach can be anywhere from tolerable to brilliant. On "10 A.M. Automatic" he's at the top of his game, belting out some amusing lyrics and shouting ad-libs way from the mic.
The bulk of the songs are built around catchy, reverb-drenched riffs. It amazes me that guys like Auerbach can still pluck out four or five notes from the blues scale and arrange them to form the base of fresh and compelling music. A lot of that freshness also comes from drummer Patrick Carney, who produced the album. For a guy who claims to be only mildly interested in blues Carney is surprisingly reverent to the time-honored goals of blues recording. The album was recorded in an abandoned warehouse and Carney's production let's you know it. I hear that Danger Mouse is producing the next Black Keys album. I think it's a good move just for the sake of mixing things up, but I hope he can retain the dirtiness that Carney has used to such great effect on the group's latest two albums.
"The Lengths" is a uniquely melancholy moment on the album. One guitar track is a fingerpicked acoustic, playing some major-key phrases while Auerbach moans along with a howling minor-key electric slide part. It's the predecessor to Magic Potion's "You're The One". Simple and beautiful.
Perhaps my favorite track on the album is "Act Nice And Gentle", a Kinks cover. The original version is a fine little Ray Davies throwaway. Nothing too exciting. How the Black Keys came to realize that it would be the perfect song to cover, I have no idea. Their version simmers and sways with graceful guitar lines crawling all over each other and a gorgeous vocal.
If there is a weakness to this album it comes during the final three tunes. They are excellent songs but they don't really cover much territory that hadn't already been explored earlier on Rubber Factory or the band's previous albums. I'm glad they are on the album but wish Auerbach had thrown a curve ball or two to finish up the disc.
I hope the Black Keys aren't just a fad. It doesn't seem like they will be dropping out of the spotlight any time soon. I hope their next album is a big hit. Magic Potion was a great follow-up to Rubber Factory but it was very much an example of a group playing within its comfort zone. Hopefully Danger Mouse can take the Black Keys to new places without sacrificing the things that have made them such a hot commodity.
The band is probably the most widely known part of the great rock and roll scene that has been brewing in Ohio for quite some time. I hope their popularity keeps growing and that eventually some of the attention is paid to all the other quality bands coming out of Ohio these days.
Highlights:
"10 A.M. Automatic"
"Just Couldn't Tie Me Down"
"The Lengths"
"Act Nice And Gentle"
User Reviews
Submitted by jimboruckus (user info) at 2008-05-24 18:34:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2008-03-04 22:46:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I've listened to three songs. Good stuff.
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2008-03-03 18:55:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Didn't read this, but I like your moxy.
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2008-03-03 13:19:09 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by PepsiCoke (user info) at 2008-03-02 21:27:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Jack, are you trying to break up with me?
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2008-03-02 21:23:34 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
If this is all you've got, give it up. Go back to putting all of your energy into haranguing your soon-to-be ex-boyfriends.
Submitted by PepsiCoke (user info) at 2008-03-02 19:44:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I don't think Shlongy has such horrible taste in music. I'm not really into punk but if he likes The Replacements then he's alright in my book.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2008-03-02 19:18:18 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
C'mon, Shlongy. Get out of bed and knock this shit off the page.
Submitted by PepsiCoke (user info) at 2008-03-02 17:26:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2008-03-02 17:21:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I've never listened to them, but a friend just burned me Chulahoma and Magic Potion. If I like them, I'll come back and give you four +2s to make up for this 0, which will be mighty white of me.
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Listen to Magic Potion first. It's totally going to depend on your personal taste, but if you like lo-fi rock and roll without the frills then I think you should like Magic Potion. Play it loud and get blazed beforehand.
Chulahoma is great, too, but it's a lot more laid back. All the songs are covers of songs by an old black blues dude named Junior Kimbrough.
Submitted by PepsiCoke (user info) at 2008-03-02 17:21:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2008-03-02 11:41:12 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Thank you RexReedGeneSiskelRogerEbertSimonCrowell.
You just won the Most Pretentious Asshole award.
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Which parts of this review is pretentious?
I sure hope I don't sound like Roger Ebert. I only review music that I like, anyway.
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2008-03-02 17:21:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I've never listened to them, but a friend just burned me Chulahoma and Magic Potion. If I like them, I'll come back and give you four +2s to make up for this 0, which will be mighty white of me.
Submitted by Sinistral (user info) at 2008-03-02 16:36:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I've only heard one song by the Black Keys. Thickfreakness was on the second CD of Punk-O-Rama 8 (I think it's eight, anyways). I thought it was rather odd they were on a CD with such a name, but it turns out all Punk-O-Ramas are put out by Epitaph, and Black Keys are signed to one of Epitaph's alternative labels.
Anyway, I liked the song, but it seemed like everytime I put the 2 P-O-R CDs on shuffle the song would play more than any other. Now, I can hardly stand it.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2008-03-02 11:41:12 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Thank you RexReedGeneSiskelRogerEbertSimonCrowell.
You just won the Most Pretentious Asshole award.
Submitted by Linus (user info) at 2008-03-02 09:53:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I don't know who "The Black Keys" are, but I do love Gumby.
Submitted by Ltap (user info) at 2008-03-02 09:45:38 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
Would have been -2 except for the picture. No one cares what you think about some guitarist.
Submitted by 8track (user info) at 2008-03-02 05:34:12 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
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