The Black Keys - Delta Kream: "Blues Roots Revisited"

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    BUT... I doubt anyone would consider us at Pitchfork or Stereogum's level. Those fancy establishments get all the nice shit: free trips to concerts, free merch, advance listening of secret albums. The three of us here at this humble blog can only ever hope to attain some sort of glorified superfan status as any regular XXL magazine writer does.

    So imagine my surprise when a pretty little package from the Black Keys shows up on my doorstep two days early. Anyone who knows me knows I am an avid record collector, to the point that it could be considered an unhealthy obsession. And when the Black Keys announce a new album, I hit the "Add to Cart" button faster than you can say thickfreakness. And that's exactly what I did less than a month ago when the Akron, Ohio duo announced their latest covers album of delta-blues legends.

    Enough about my shopping habits, though. Yesterday, the package arrives with less than 48 hours until the album is available on streaming services and in-store to the rest of the world. So what makes me so special? I'll admit, my ego went straight to my head -- the Keys must have read my articles and wanted me to write it up, right? They know how large our readership is, yeah? Duh.

    I'm happy to grant them such a request. Behold, the much-anticipated channel.WAV review of the Black Keys' tenth studio album, Delta Kream.

    As Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney gained widespread acclaim following the release of 2008's Attack & Release, the band was faced with a grueling decision: alter their sound and cosmetic make-up or find themselves stalled out on the side of the corporate interstate. Although the band took time off to heal deepening wounds and attend to ambitious side-projects (see: Blakroc), they reconciled in 2010 with a new focus. The result of which was the breakthrough the duo needed more than anything.

    Abandoning their iconic two-member status as well as their deep, blues-rock foundation for a full-band, alt-rock, stadium-crowd sound, their lead single from the critically-acclaimed Brothers shattered radio stations and concert halls. It was a far cry from the grimy, twangy blues of Magic Potion, yet successful nonetheless. And it wouldn't be until 2021 when fans would see the duo leave radio play behind for the blues sound once again.

    In April of this year, it was announced that Auerbach and Carney would reunite once again to debut an album comprised of their take on delta blues classics (hill country blues songs originating in the Mississippi Delta), featuring the lead single and first track of Kream, "Crawling Kingsnake." It was no "Howlin' For You" -- no, it was a face-melting, 6-minute adventure of muddy sounds so deep your boot heel gets stuck. Auerbach sounds possessed, as though John Lee Hooker himself took hold of his soul and was rioting across six strings. It was a return to form for the band, who sound as though they hadn't skipped a beat (or several) from their first days in the studio together.

      Including "Kingsnake," the first three songs are absolute rippers. On "Poor Boy a Long Way From Home" (an original from R.L. Burnside, whose grandson is playing Railbird Festival this summer) Carney's percussion is absolutely unhinged and Auerbach's solos seem otherworldly. Later, "Going Down South" serves as a ghostly transition between the up-tempo album openers and the mellowed middle. Auerbach's falsetto is haunting and a stark change from the Burnside original, but makes this track stand out among the others.

    It's no mistake the Keys chose to once again remake Junior Kimbrough's "Do the Rump" (stylized here as "Romp" to indicate an alternate version from 2001) which featured on their debut album, The Big Come Up. Not only does Auerbach list Kimbrough as one of the major influences of his style, the two prove how far they've come in nearly twenty years. The fast-paced thump of their original cover is traded for a slow-burning, guitar-heavy rocker which features less of Auerbach's vocals and more instrumentation this go-round.

    Following "Romp" are two more Kimbrough covers, working hard to swing back into the heavy solos in the early parts of the album, and away from the slow neck-grooving of Burnside's influence. These are raw, visceral cuts where Auerbach and Carney relive their glory days of anonymity and ambition.

    And for a band that's been around for almost two decades, they're not short on surprises. On "Mellow Peaches" the group sound almost unrecognizable for the first 30 seconds -- a bass line the depth of, well, the Mississippi river, works across a slow 4/4 beat, joined by offbeat kicks from Carney. Auerbach uses a slide ring during his solo, which unless I'm mistaken, is absent from early Black Keys records.

    Surprises and remnants of the past aside, Delta Kream is no chart-topper like Brothers or Turn Blue, and depending on which fan you ask might be a good thing. In all truth, the duo have thrived musically and individually in honesty, and there is honesty not only in the content of the delta blues genre, but behind the sounds themselves. Stripped down and intimate, you can't sing and play the blues if you don't experience the blues. It's fair to say these musicians have been through their share of hardships.

    You can listen to the entire album this Friday and purchase physical copies in person at your local record store.

Standout track: "Mellow Peaches"

OUR RATING: 💣💣💣💣💣💣/7, best enjoyed on some very, very loud speakers alongside a tall glass of New Riff bourbon poured over rocks.

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Are you excited for Delta Kream? Did an accidental delivery go straight to my head? Sound off in the comments below or holler at us on Twitter!

- Ritter