Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are the hard-working rockers that could. With a modest beginning ten years ago and a steady rise to both critical acclaim and, eventually, mainstream popularity (not to mention Grammy awards), you could almost consider the Black Keys the musical manifestation of the American dream. Their determination and consistency make them easy to root for, but more importantly, they're making rock-'n'-roll that people actually listen to. Perhaps that doesn't mean much to everyone, but consider, for a moment, the bands currently occupying space on the Billboard Top 200 Chart that even remotely resemble rock music: Nickleback, Coldplay, and…Florence + the Machine, maybe? While you could argue that Jack White helps the cause by continuing to release records through his various projects, the point that popular rock-'n'-roll is scarce these days is all too easy to make. I give that context not as an excuse to continue my tradition of heaping praise upon the Black Keys, but to offer an estimation that the band's latest record, El Camino, is the perfect rock-'n'-roll album for 2011.

The Black Keys' last two albums, 2008's Attack & Release and last year's Brothers, sought to broaden the duo's focus and prove their versatility. And they did. Now Auerbach and Carney have given us a record that leaves behind those ambitions and sets its sights firmly on blending their former blues stomp with enormously entertaining, radio-friendly tunes. That's not to say El Camino rocks any less than their previous material; on the contrary, it's their hardest-hitting effort in some time. But the new approach gives the Black Keys—and rock-'n'-roll in general—a chance to really compete on a mainstream level. The Black Keys have made plenty of accessible songs over the past decade, but here they stick with the likes of the more upbeat cuts from Brothers (“Howlin' for You”; “Tighten Up”) and do away with the darker, drowsier numbers (“Too Afraid to Love You”; “Ten Cent Pistol”) from the same. The result is an explosive 38 minutes of deliriously uninhibited, occasionally silly, and consistently excellent songs.

Far be it from me to insist the band was overtly inspired by securing future commercial success, but it's hard not to imagine in-studio discussions between Auerbach, Carney, and producer Danger Mouse to determine if it were possible to stuff more hooks into tunes already bursting with them. As it stands, El Camino may be the catchiest album I've heard all year across any genre, and it only occasionally feels overdone. Each fiery guitar line makes your heart pump faster and each drum riff makes your body move instinctively, and together the two elements are sensational. Rarely have the duo sounded tighter, especially on blazing lead single “Lonely Boy” and the sleazy rave-up “Run Right Back,” with Danger Mouse filling in the gaps with just enough of his now-familiar production flourishes to keep things sounding thoroughly modern despite the band's still-retro leanings. I'll admit to sometimes missing the subtler and bluesier material that always worked its way into previous Black Keys albums, but outrageous moments like the big, sexy chorus of “Gold On the Ceiling” or the Zeppelin-esque back half of “Little Black Submarines” that explodes after a quiet acoustic opening make such thoughts fleeting.

In place of the aforementioned slow-burning numbers that Auerbach previously relied on a few times per album, we get surprisingly funky cuts like “Sister” and “Stop Stop,” which find the duo perfectly comfortable with a classic but currently vogue dance-rock vibe (well, at least as much as you could describe a Black Keys in those terms). “Sister" is particularly stunning, with thumping low-end and ample swagger, the like of which, say, Adam Levine and company can only dream of. It's moments like this that will bother long-time fan who worries too much about this band losing touch with their blues roots, and that will thrill those who can appreciate that these two rockers have no interest in making more carbon copies of Rubber Factory. And why should they when they have the talent and intelligence to make a record that can appeal to the masses without pandering to them? Whatever El Camino signifies in the progression of the Black Keys, it's an album that means great things for the future of a genre that they and others have championed for some time, without gaining much ground. So whether you see El Camino as a victory lap after last year's success, a bid for mainstream attention, or just an excuse to make party-rock anthems, this is a great rock-'n'-roll album and 2011 certainly needed one.

Review by:
Chris Nowling