After being a cult band for the first decade of their career, the Black Keys blew up with the success of sixth album ‘Brothers’ in 2010 consolidated by the earth-devouring ‘El Camino’ two years later. The latter was itself spearheaded by ‘Lonely Boy’; a track impossible to ignore for a few years.
Despite being anything but an overnight success, the universal praise the albums received seemed to take Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney by surprise and – arguably – they’ve yet to recover from it. Until now.
After a comparatively muted response to their output of the last decade (albeit as they became an arena band) ‘Delta Kream’ rejuvenated them in the way that covers albums so often do; relinquished from the pressure of writing songs, the pair seemed to rediscover the joy of simply playing. ‘Dropout Boogie’ (2022) received two Grammy nominations and ‘Ohio Players’ finds the duo expanding their palette to accommodate several guest appearances, where they were once a closed shop.
Indeed, it’s an impressive cast list. Noel Gallagher, a man not known for his collaborative spirit, co-wrote three songs (recorded in as many days at London’s Toe Rag Studios): the jaunty, snappy ‘You’ll Pay’, with bonus surf-rock guitars; the crisp-yet-thumping ‘Only Love Matters’ and ‘On The Game’ (one suspects the difference in meaning between the two sides of the Atlantic caused The Chief some mirth). While something of a plodder, the latter features all the hallmarks of the former Oasis man: a mid-paced, arms aloft ballad, were it not for the drumming being so high in the mix.
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Elsewhere, Dan The Automator drops by for the succinct ‘Beautiful People (Stay High)’, while uber-producer Greg Kurstin helps on the watertight strut of closer ‘Everytime You Leave’. But it’s Beck Hansen who features most prominently across the album, with his fingerprints all over seven tracks. He takes the vocals on ‘Paper Crown’ with all his characteristic swagger, before backing away for Juicy J to deliver a mid-song rap, while the excellent ‘Live Till I Die’ combines the Black Keys’ earlier sound with Beck’s sumptuous harmonies. Opener ‘This Is Nowhere’, meanwhile, has the slacker groove of Hansen’s 90s output.
Yet it’s still undeniably the Black Keys. ‘Please Me (Till I’m Satisfied)’ is a bluesy rocker with cacophonous drumming from Carney, while ‘Fever Tree’ is a riot, Auerbach eschewing a chorus for some good old-fashioned ‘na-na-na’s’.
As with all their output, ‘Ohio Players’ is a few tracks longer than necessary (the cover of William Bell’s ‘I Forgot To Be Your Lover’ is superfluous) but otherwise finds the duo in spirited form.
7/10
Words: Richard Bowes
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