1. CalebQ

   10

   Gritty garage blues-rock at its finest. Perfect for the hip indiephile tired od philosophical verse and Pixies ripoffs. My personal faves are "Act Nice And Gentle", a perfect honly-tonk jam; and "Stack Shot Billy", with witty songwriting along with the Lava-soap rock. After eating nothing but strange foreign dishes and crazy tastes your friends suggested, its refreshing to just get a huge steak. And the Black Keys serve this slab hot and juicy. (Warning: may cure musical jadedness.)… Collapse

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2. JakeZ

   10

   i absolutly love this album

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3. SaeedSaeed

   8

   Last year was a very busy year for Ohio?s blues duo The Black Keys. They released their second album titled ?Thickfreakness? to universal acclaim and they subsequently packed up their bags and relentlessly toured every country that would have them. In Australia?s case we were lucky because they came twice in the space of twelve months and their shows down here last Easter went down a storm. It was in that second Australian tour that the Black Keys not only played their energetic brand of blues/rock. They were also kind enough to test out some of their new material. As a person that was fortunate to be present in one of those shows what struck me most about the new material was the amount of swagger and stomp that it possessed. I left the gig hoping that this new found swagger will find its way into their upcoming album and with their new release titled ?Rubber Factory? my hopes have materialized. With Rubber Factory, The Black Keys cement themselves as not only blues purists but also as a band who are not scared to rock out with the best of them. This record is not merely a retread of past glories. The Black Keys up the ante in all aspects from the production right down to the cover design. Every thing on display here spells CONFIDENCE. First single ?10.A.M Automatic? is a whale of a time, showing every one that you can make a lot of beautiful loud noise with just one guitar and a drum set. The swagger of this track shows that guitarist Dan Aurebach must have a poster of Keith Richards standing side by side next to John Lee Hooker and it very indicative of the whole disc. ?Just Couldn?t Tie Me Down? with its handclaps and great riffs will make you want to boogie and ?Stack Shot Billy? shows what this duo is all about: Partick Carney?s powerful drumming. Dan Aurebach?s lyrical guitar playing and smokey vocals. The Black Keys also take a few left turns in this record. The first of the two covers recorded here was The Kink?s ?Act Nice and Gentle?. The Black Keys give this track more of a swing and Aurebach?s voice never sounded so sweet. Second cover ?Grown So Ugly? was also covered in the 70?s by Captain Beefheart, but the Black Keys elected to take a more traditional approach to this prison blues staple and it works brilliantly. The most affecting track here is the ?The Lengths?, an honest to God country ballad that comes complete with a shuffling drum beat and some lap steel action. Placing it as the centre piece of the album was strategic for it serves as a great change of pace and it again shows that this duo have a lot more to offer than other young bands who play the blues because it?s the fashionable thing to play. This is what sets the Black Keys apart from all the other big bands that play a bluesy brand of rock. Unlike the White Stripes who enjoy subverting the blues or Jet who plainly rip off blues riffs, The Black Keys treat the blues with the utmost respect and that?s what makes them so refreshing. Rubber Factory does what every third album should: it solidifies the band?s style and at the same time moves forward in musical direction. But most importantly, it?s damn exciting. … Expand

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4. j30

   7

   Rubber Factory is a fine effort from the modern blues rock duo, but it feels like their just scratching the surface of their potential. Still the record is solid and has replay-ability.… Expand

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