Black Keys

When all your artists are dying off, what's a hip Delta blues label to do? If you're mid-Mississippi indie Fat Possum, the answer is: diversify. Although the Black Keys are two white kids from Akron, Ohio, their rot-gut rhythm an' blues is good enough to render any musical judge colorblind...

By Tom Bowker

May 29, 2003

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When all your artists are dying off, what's a hip Delta blues label to do? If you're mid-Mississippi indie Fat Possum, the answer is: diversify. Although the Black Keys are two white kids from Akron, Ohio, their rot-gut rhythm an' blues is good enough to render any musical judge colorblind. Dan Auerbach's blue-eyed-soul vocal stylings and gorgeous slide guitar-playing would fit right in with any Chess Records box set. Unlike contemporaries Bob Log III or the Immortal Lee County Killers, the Black Keys don't turn the volume up to 11 and beat you in the head with a punk/blues stomp. Instead, they'll charm you with a mix of boot-shaking party anthems ("Do the Rump," "Thickfreakness") and Delta orthodoxy ("Run Me Down"). It's music to get drunk and laid to. What more can a person ask for? Black Keys perform with Beck and Dashboard Confessional, Sunday, June 1, at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 433 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Call 561-962-4109.

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