El Camino
| The Black Keys
El Camino
El Camino is the seventh studio album by American rock duo the Black Keys. It was co-produced by Danger Mouse and the group, and was released on Nonesuch Records on December 6, 2011. The record was the band's follow-up to their commercial breakthrough, Brothers (2010), and was their third collaboration with Danger Mouse. El Camino draws from popular genres of the 1950s to 1970s, such as rock and roll, glam rock, rockabilly, surf rock and soul. Danger Mouse contributed as a co-writer on each of the 11 songs alongside guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney.- Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
That they're the true victors of the 2000s garage explosion is no shock at all. Rock came back. Commerce never left.
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Rolling Stone
Grandest pop gesture yet, augmenting dark-hearted fuzz blasts with sleekly sexy choruses and Seventies-glam flair.
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Spin
I enjoy this album very much.
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The Guardian
In revving so hard, though, the Black Keys have perhaps left behind in the dust the subtleties that made Brothers such an intriguing ride.
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Consequence of Sound
The duo deserves a victory lap after ascending from four-track recordings in Carney’s basement to selling out amphitheaters and headlining festivals, all while maintaining the same DIY aesthetic.
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Telegraph
The Black Keys are here to rock, not talk. On this evidence, few bands right now do it better.
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NZ Herald
El Camino is the one that will make them bona fide superstars. It has wide appeal but without heading off in a watered down Black Keys-lite direction.
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Billboard
Another album highlight, in which the Black Keys fully commit to retro-psych experimentation and achieve it with total success -- and still have room to spit some universal truths.
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All Music
What’s being said doesn’t matter as much as how it’s said: El Camino is all trash and flash and it’s highly addictive.
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Paste Magazine
It’s an album that leaves you breathless and wanting more, but it becomes more fun with each new spin.
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BG Falcon Media
"El Camino" is easily the Akron-based, blues-rock duo's most pop-conscious effort yet, but in absolutely no way is that a bad thing.
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NPR
El Camino turns out to really be their revved-up getaway car, after all: They've moved from state to state, on the run to reinvent themselves.
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NY Times
It’s the most urgent and irresistible music they have ever made; the album’s 11 songs are fast, punchy and loaded with hooks.
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American Songwriter
It’s meat-and-potatoes blues-rock topped with something sweeter, and it’s the most consistent thing these guys have ever cooked up.
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Slant Magazine
Every track on the album seems to boast a bigger, filthier hook than the one before it, and that’s why El Camino works.
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AV Club
But when times are as good as they are El Camino, the blues can wait for another day.
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Common Sense Media
This album is a joy for anyone who loves fuzzed guitars and a big back beat.
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BBC
Mariachi, C&W, gospel, psych rock, blues and soul all mash together into a warm and occasionally dazzling torrent; their appeal is less in fresh sounds as fresh composites of old ones,
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Bowers and Wilkins
A suggestion? Simply hit play again and crank the volume till the walls rattle.
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Our Vinyl
So the album really should be considered another instant classic by a band with a contemporary & classic sound.
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Music Radar
The hooks come fast, the glammy-fuzz riffs are a-plenty, the choruses slam - you're in and you're out, and you're happy.
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Pretty Much Amazing
The refreshing respite offered by the clean finger-picking on “Little Black Submarines”, which sets up the best guitar/drum chemistry between the two on the whole album.
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MPR News
This is a band firing on all cylinders!
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Outlaw Magazine
Keys have created a record that embraces 1970’s blues, gospel, soul, arena rock, and psychedelic fuzz grooves. El Camino is a good name for the record because the Black Keys have packed a lot into it.
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Timeout
Keys are right now, rollicking and fleshed out by well-placed female vocals, losing none of their primal rock appeal.
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Seventeen
Their ability to strike a cord with rap, rock, hip-hop, pop and jazz lovers is what makes them so fresh.
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The Current
The fever dream of summer — and after the winter we've just had, bring it on. All of it.
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Guitar Messenger
Their new album El Camino proves that they’re not only built to last, but revved up to ride on.
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Exclaim
A crisp 11-track collection that displays a band that have constructed a grand home upon a simple foundation, but for now are content to rearrange the furniture.
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Charlatan
From start to finish, the album is a party, with plenty of clapping, chiming bells and vintage organ parts, overtop of which lie Auerbach’s multi-layered guitar riffs.
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Independent
This is a slice of superior, intelligent pop-rock that plays artfully with influences, without once seeming academic.
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Hollywood Reporter
Keys' grandest pop gesture yet, augmenting dark-hearted fuzz blasts with sleekly sexy choruses and Seventies-glam flair.
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San Diego Reader
Bluesy, up-tempo swells and the freakishly stellar drumming of Patrick Carney, yet always manage to keep things fresh.
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Austin Chronicle
Might be the weakest Black Keys album since 2006's Magic Potion, but the band certainly earned this celebratory joy ride.
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Sputnik Music
Down and dirty, it grooves by on soulful power chords and Carney’s relentless hammering of his kit.
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Prefix Magazine
Keeps that approach fresh by twisting their rock sound into a pop sensibility that may feel nostalgic
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LA Times
It's a party record, a driving down the highway, “I'm in love with rock and roll, and I'll be out all night” record.
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Mind Equals Blown
A great blues rock album from a band that feels more intuitive and only increases my interest level every single time I hear their music.
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The Owl Magazine
It’s still obvious that the band is just as inspired and talented as ever.
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Woodsworth Howl
Retain the listener’s interest on the latter half of the album, and will have you tapping your foot.
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Clash Music
The pair has successfully fulfilled their promise of becoming one of the biggest bands in the world.
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Under the Radar Magazine
There isn't a bad song in the bunch, nor a moment to relax until you've ingested El Camino in full.
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Vancouver Sun
El Camino is an unrelenting ride on the Black Keys express wagon, with no rest area in sight.
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Vinyl Reviews
El Camino comes on like fast, muscular garage-rock tricked out with clever hooks and loads of charm.
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Daily Breeze
Gritty, punchy hard rock vibe
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Scene Point Blank
Crafted another solid addition to their already noteworthy and extensive catalogue.
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Potholes in my Blog
These tracks are catchy.
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The Collegiative
A call to find a bigger, fuller, and faster sound, and do so quickly. The end result, “El Camino.”
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Entertainment ie
A reverence for straight up rock and roll and garage punk, in all its grease-stained glory.
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Music Trajectory
Highly recommended if you are into rock, indie-rock, garage-rock, or blues-rock.
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Scotsman
BIG riffs, big beats, big production, modest ambition.
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Review Fix
A subcompact with the tricked out sound system with an empty tank.
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Musik Express
Everything cooked really hot with big choirs, fat blues guitars and glam rock pathos.
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Vinyl Anachronist
Expect El Camino to invade the collective unconscious of serious music lovers in a big way over the coming months.
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Under the Radar
Shows just how far The Black Keys have come, and how much potential they still have to explore their sound and push the boundaries of blues rock.
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Citiblog
Oozing with that rich southern blues the band are known for.
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Thought on Tracks
It will keep you dancing. It will keep you singing. And it will keep me listening.
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Cleveland
Still possess the talent to sound better than 99 percent of them. It's just a matter of how the guys want to use it.
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Little by Listen
A power-pop punk album that is completely blues infused.
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Journal Star
The most listenable and richest of The Black Keys' seven albums. It points to an even more appealing future.
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Amoeba
Undoubtedly find their heads bobbing to the Skynyrd punk of “Money Maker.” Don’t resist.
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Seed Sent
The proud Akronites’ old school approach blended with a timeless rocking sound transfers seamlessly to tape. Rock on.
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Nova
Something to say and, more importantly, know how to say it, and that makes this a set that doesn’t tire, even spin after spin.
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Lexgo
You will quickly sense how far the band as traveled and how sweet the ride remains.
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KCUR
Turns out to really be their revved-up getaway car after all. They've moved from state to state, on the run to reinvent themselves.
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Musical Thoughts
I think this is by far on of the Keys best works.
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SF Chronicle
Reveling in lush strings, warm synths and slinky soul melodies.
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Music OMH
The duo lack the necessary chops, though, so it turns out sounding like The Muppets trying to play Led Zeppelin.
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All Music
All trash and flash and it’s highly addictive.
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Music Trajectory
The Black Keys must have reached their zenith to be able to turn right back around a year later and release what is probably the best album of their career.
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Faded Glamour
This feels like an album that they didn’t need to release and, by comparison with their best, it lacks inspiration.
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Now Toronto
Maybe their tightest, most replayable album yet, El Camino isn't likely to send the Black Keys back into obscurity.
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Relix
Although it is not quite the kitchy Americana classic that the title El Camino suggests, it’s still just as road-worthy.
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EW
They don’t make vintage folk-rock heavy metal like they used to — if they ever used to. And that’s a very good thing.
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This Lazy Panda
It’s one of those pieces where everything sounds good.
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The Wrap
Great date-night music, as raucous and celebratory on the surface as it is nervous underneath.
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