Anybody pick up yet on the Black Keys?
They are a two-men (guitar and drums) band from Akron, Ohio, who performed over here in the Netherlands recently. I liked what I heard and saw, and gotr their album 'Thickfreakness'.
There is bound to be a reference to that other guitar/drums duo, the White Stripes, but I think the Black Keys stand up for themselves.
Dan Auerbach sings and plays guitar (oh, did I mention he plays TELECASTER?). Patrick Carney plays some loud and solid drums, so much so, that - at times - he almost overpowered Dan's SF Super Reverb. Dan plays fingerstyle (no picks) on a sunburst bound Custom Tele (MIJ RI maybe?), but pretty agressively.
No, it is not innovative, boundary-pushing music. It's good, rocking, slamming blues. (Well, my humble opinion...)
And, yup, they will be playing near you: this Fri and Saturday at the Nottoden Blues Festival (for our Norvegian TDPRI'ers) and 22-23/8 at the Reading Festival resp. Leeds Festival. More US (West Coast) dates to be announced at their website.
100 % piano-free blues
http://www.theblackkeys.com/