Amazon.com
Of all the two-piece rock bands (Dresden Dolls, The White Stripes, The Kills, John & Jehn) out there making a royal racket, The Black Keys are by far the least affected by the last three decades of popular music, and evolution. Even more so than Jack & Meg. Which makes you check the album credits twice and then seek a second opinion--produced by celebrated uber-producer, superstar DJ and one half of Gnarls Barkley, the ubiquitous and really quite modern Danger Mouse?! No, your eyes do not deceive you, but thankfully neither do your ears. He may have brought a discipline and expensive sheen to Attack & Release, the riffing is buffed up real good, but this is essentially the same band that continues to live less of a life and more a Jimi Hendrix Experience. If there is a change it's that for the first time their foot is teased off the accelerator, with "Lies", "Remember When (Side A)" and "Oceans & Streams" loosening their shoulders and playing a more chilled brand of dusty sunset southern blues, adding in keys and new layers of texture (is that really a flute on "Same Old Thing"?!). There's still plenty of chance, on the massive Zeppelin-esque "Strange Times" and "Remember When (Side B)" for instance, to leave a boot mark though. More release than attack this time around, but the key still fits. --James Berry

Product Description
On Attack and Release, Danger Mouse is more creative co-conspirator than traditional figure behind the boards. He doesn’t radically alter the duo’s sound so much as coax out more of its inherent soulfulness, groove and bittersweet emotion. Two versions of 'Remember When' illustrate how the duo can swing easily from smoldering ballad to thrashing rocker. 'I’m more pleased with the sound of this record than any one we’ve ever made,' says Carney, and Auerbach concurs: 'We never let it all go like we did for this one, anything was game. It was just fun to make, and that’s why I think it’s so successful.' Nonesuch.

1. All You Ever Wanted
2. I Got Mine
3. Strange Times
4. Psychotic Girl
5. Lies
6. Remember When (Side A)
7. Remember When (Side B)
8. Same Old Thing
9. So He Won't Break
10. Oceans And Streams
11. Things Aren't Like They Used To Be

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013K6WLM/?tag=imwan-20

Black Keys Branch Out On Fifth Album

by Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. | January 10, 2008, 3:55 PM ET
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/art ... 5175.story

The Black Keys charge into new sonic territory on their fifth album, "Attack & Release," due April 1 via Nonesuch. The 11-track set was produced by Danger Mouse and recorded at Cleveland's Suma Studio, the Ohio duo's first time tracking outside their own Akron-based facilities.

Fans of the Keys' hard-hitting blues-influenced rock'n'roll will feel most at home on the 141-second stomper "Remember When (Side B)," which features a ripping Dan Auerbach guitar solo.

But nearly every other track is enhanced by production and instrumental elements the group has never previously employed, including the banjo- and organ-flecked opener "All You Ever Wanted," the rave up "Strange Times," which features piano and ghostly backing vocals, and the bare-bones "Same Old Thing," which sports bongo drums and flute.

Elsewhere, the Keys hone in on the slower side of the blues, particularly on the off-kilter "Psychotic Girl" and the slide guitar- and organ-laden closer "Things Ain't Like They Used To Be," a duet with Auerbach and his protege, Jessica Lea Mayfield.

As previously reported, the group first collaborated with Danger Mouse on what was intended to be a new Ike Turner studio album, but when that project failed to develop beyond a handful of songs, a new Black Keys set produced by Danger Mouse began taking shape.

Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney will begin a spring North American tour March 27 in Tucson, Ariz. The group will also play earlier in the month at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, with a date and venue to be announced.

I got an advance of this one-- it's my favorite record of theirs yet. I think it's terrific-- the extra production is perfect. The sound is essentially the same, but it's fleshed out in really thoughtful and musical ways.

I also really recommend the new Stephen Malkmus, Real Emotional Trash. I think it's the best record he's been a part of since Crooked Rain.

Jeff

Black Keys celebrate album release with sold-out LA show
The blues-rock duo thrill a packed house

April 3, 2008
http://www.nme.com/news/the-black-keys/35630



The Black Keys celebrated the release of their new album 'Attack & Release' with a sold-out show at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles last night (April 1).

The Ohio blues-rock duo ran through several new tracks from the Danger Mouse-produced album, including 'Strange Times' and 'Things Ain't Like They Used To Be'.

The receptive crowd was filled with mostly male fans young and old, who cheered at nearly every extended guitar riff and drum solo.

"You know, we've got a new record out today and it feels good," said singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach. "We've played some new stuff, but we're gonna keep it mixed up," he said, before launching into some older material from 2006's 'Magic Potion'.

After the band ended their set the house lights came up, but fans were undeterred and continued cheering loudly until the duo returned to the stage for a three-song encore.

The Black Keys will continue their US tour in support of 'Attack & Release' with a show at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre tonight (April 2), before hitting several cities across the country.