: they share several surface similarities -- their names are color-coded, they hail from the Midwest, they’re guitar-and-drum blues-rock duos -- but the
are their own distinct thing, a tougher, rougher rock band with a purist streak that never surfaces in the
. But that’s not to say that
’ psychedelic classic “She Said She Said,” indicating a fascination with sound and texture that would later take hold on such latter-day albums as 2008’s
. In between those two records, the duo established
as a rock & roll band with a brutal, primal force, and songwriters of considerable depth, as evidenced on such fine albums as 2003’s
Natives of Akron, Ohio,
the Black Keys released their debut,
The Big Come Up, in 2002, receiving strong reviews and sales, and leading to a contract with Fat Possum by the end of the year. That label released
Thickfreakness, recorded in a 14-hour session, in the spring of 2003, and the Keys supported the album with an opening tour for
Sleater-Kinney.
The Black Keys' momentum escalated considerably with their 2004 album
Rubber Factory, which not only received strong reviews but some high-profile play, including a video for “10 A.M. Automatic” featuring comedian
David Cross. The band's highly touted live act was documented on a 2005 DVD, released the same year as
Chulahoma -- an EP of blues covers -- appeared.
The Black Keys made the leap to the major labels with 2006's
Magic Potion, a moodier record that continued to build their fan base. The band capitalized on that moodiness with 2008's
Attack & Release, whose production by
Danger Mouse signaled that
the Black Keys were hardly just blues-rock purists. Salvaged from sessions intended as a duet album with
Ike Turner, who died before the record could be finished, the album was
the Black Keys' biggest to date, debuting in the Billboard Top 15 and earning strong reviews. Following their second live DVD,
the Black Keys spent 2009 on side projects, with
Auerbach releasing his solo album
Keep It Hid in the beginning of the year, and
Carney forming the band Drummer, in which he played bass. At the end of 2009, Blakroc, a rap-rock collaboration between the band and producer
Damon Dash, appeared.
Brothers, released in 2010, became their biggest album yet, generating the hit singles "Tighten Up," "Howlin' for You" and "Next Girl." It also saw the Keys returning to their tough blues roots with a new grandness, earning three Grammy Awards, landing on year-end lists from NPR to
Rolling Stone, and going gold. The band offered a more straight-ahead rock & roll sound with 2011's El Camino. On the strength of the hit single "Lonely Boy," El Camino debuted at number 2 on Billboard's Top 200 and
the Black Keys worked the album hard throughout the next year, releasing "Gold on the Ceiling" as the record's second single and touring heavily. In the fall of 2012, the Tour Rehearsal Tapes EP -- a brief collection of live-in-the-studio run-throughs of 2012 material -- was released.
–
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi