Friday, July 8, 2011

(14) Unexpected Song

I'm prone to being a bit eclectic with my choices, but if I had to guess one of the songs (and groups too) that no one would expect me to like, or for that matter know, are The Black Keys.

I heard of the Black Keys a few years ago in high school when one of my choir babies said she was attending a concert of theirs. She let me listen to a few of their MP3s and I had to go and buy a few of their songs, the first one being "When the Lights Go Out."

The song is like that expression "you don't know what you have until it's gone;" the woman he's singing to is just mean and loveless and once he leaves she's going to know what she's missing. It's gritty, it's simple, and it's perfect.

It's an unexpected song from me because I usually migrate between three states of being with my music which are sexy/sensual, sad/angry, and happy/energized of which the previous doesn't fall into. Truth be told I love a lot of songs that don't fall into those categories, but this is one of the only blues songs I own. Don't get me wrong I appreciate the greats who came before like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and the father of allegedly selling his soul modern music Robert Johnson. However, these two gentlemen...? They are a bit of a juicy contradiction conundrum to me; indie artists who are successful in the mainstream, who don't adhere to just one genre (as their Blakroc collab with hip-hop greats like Common , Mos Def and the RZA prove), and who genuinely seem to love what they make. And they're oddballs. Gotta love that.

Check them out.
I promise you'll be cooler for it ;)

4 comments:

Wu Young said...

Tes, The Black Keys have cemented themselves as my third favorite band behind the Roots and The Rollingstones. These two cats go in on every song and they respect the hell out of those who came before them. I loved their BlackRoc collabo also because they made Jim Jones listenable/tolerable. Their new joint should be out next year too.

Tess said...

Wu, I'm not even surprised you know 'em :)

Fun Fact: Their Rubber Factory album was made in an actual abandoned rubber factory. With that, they became my second favorite group.

You sir, have excellent taste in music.

Wu Young said...

I try to keep my musical horizons expanded since hip hop is so underwhelming. I would have never guessed why "The Rubber Factory" was called "The Rubber Factory".

Anonymous said...

I peeped the video for "Howlin' For You" last night. It was different. Sort of like a bad Quentin Tarantino movie.