<< Front page Arts December 5, 2003

Arts Preview

The Black Keys

It’s the last weekend of school before reading period, you’ve got papers upon papers about absolutely nothing, none of which you’ve even started, and, like most Oberlin students you’re angry and frustrated with life in a small town in Ohio. What better way to release your tension than rocking out to the up-and-coming Akron duo, The Black Keys.

If two piece guitar/drum rock groups are the new fad, then Oberlin is embracing this trend wholeheartedly. Earlier this semester the Student Union Concert Board brought Baltimore duo Entrance to play in Wilder Bowl, and The Black Keys will be at The ’Sco this Saturday, Dec. 5th. Even the White Stripes were in Cleveland on Sunday; it seems like everyone and their mother is in a rock duo these days.

However, one should not think of The Black Keys as some White Stripes clone band. The Keys sound lies much more in the southern blues, Mississippi delta style. It’s gritty, energetic and they blues it up just about as much as two white guys from Akron can (which is apparently quite a bit). Their sound is somewhat comparable to Entrance in that both groups have an edgy, unique sound, making them enjoyable to listen to even if you don’t like the music. What you can’t take away from The Black Keys is that they are original.

The Black Keys’ latest album thickfreakness, is a remarkable follow-up to their first record, released in 2002, The Big Come-up. thickfreakness was recorded in Kerouac-esque fashion, with guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney descending into Carney’s basement recording studio alone for an intense 14-hour session of rocking out and Carney running back and forth between his set and the mixing board. This record has the kind of edginess and sound that one would expect from a 14-hour recording session with no engineer, in the best way possible.

As the nephew of Tom Waits’s long-time saxophone player, Ralph Carney, drummer Patrick Carney has a history of growing up around music that deviates a bit from the norm, an influence evident in The Keys’ music. Additionally, Carney’s tour-de-force drumming has been compared to that of The Who’s late Keith Moon.

Opening for Akron duo is The Christi Yamaguchis, an all-female “Oberlin super-group.” They have risen to rock supremacy on campus this semester as many of the most legendary parties have erupted out of their live sets.

The Black Keys and The Christi Yamaguchis show is going to be the last big event of the semester before finals. Here’s your last chance to hear some new music and show some support for a local group before banging your head against an alien-like iMac in the A-level computer lab after losing that paper you wrote about nothing.

The ‘Sco. Saturday, Dec. 5. at 10p.m. $5

   

A note to our subscribers: Our subscription list was deleted.
Please help us reconstruct it. (Read on...)