Midwest blues

The Black Keys- Magic Potion

After 4 albums The Black Keys have clearly proven that two white boys from Ohio can sing the blues, but I still get confused every time I listen to them. Putting on Magic Potion was no different. From the start of “Just Got To Be,” they show their mastery of dirty feedback and vocals that should be coming from an old black man sitting on the corner with 38 cents and an old receipt in his guitar case in front of him. The difference about this Nonesuch Records debut from their older albums is the calculation behind it. These aren’t just two buddies jamming in their basement, this is an album with a purpose. They don’t want to sing the same old song anymore, and their electric blues morphs into something harder than they’ve done before.

Not to say that they’re moving away from the blues. From the smooth, soulful solo at the beginning of “The Flame” you can feel heartache, even if you can’t understand the lyrics. But there are points of expansion, such as the Zeppelin-esque “Modern Times,” whose headbanging intro and hard hitting guitar make good use of the distortion. And the rocky “Strange Desire” is complete with muted power chords and evokes The Doors with a chorus of “My heart’s on fire/ with a strange desire.” Sung with such passion, what lovelorn groupie wouldn’t immediately believe them? Maybe in the future they’ll move to grander rock anthems, or maybe they’ll stick with what they’ve got, but they figured out how to stay true to their music while giving themselves a little room to try things out.