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Jul 17, 2019"Let's Rock" is stripped-down, straightforward and ultimately, a blast. Not a single track meanders past the four-minute mark, bringing the band's best to the forefront: Fun jams chock full of Big Riff Energy.
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Jul 9, 2019The rousing music shows The Black Keys have plenty of rock’n’roll fire left in their bellies. ‘Let’s Rock’ certainly proves the electricity’s still there.
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Q MagazineJul 2, 2019Sounds like the work of a band reinvigorated. [Aug 2019, p.117]
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Jun 28, 2019The lyrics are rarely more than functional (“See twin eagle birds up in the tree / One for you and there’s one for me,” Auerbach sings on Eagle Birds) but the music is persuasive: hard, shining rock, with an irresistible pop edge.
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Jun 27, 2019A viscerally entertaining album that never lingers for more than four minutes per song. Rock’n’roll isn’t dead: it’s just been sleeping.
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Jun 27, 2019Help Us Stranger and Let’s Rock are simply great records from very different bands coming from the same ideals: Rock is a living thing, and guitars can be your best friends in the war on jive.
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Jun 26, 2019It's a good-time record designed for daylight and, after the murky Turn Blue and its ensuing hiatus, it's refreshing to hear the Black Keys step out of the dark and into the sunshine.
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Jul 2, 2019On all counts, “Let’s Rock” succeeds in its mission. Hit the road, roll down the windows, and play it loud.
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Jun 26, 2019Sitting comfortably alongside high water marks like El Camino, it’s clear on Let’s Rock that the boys’ batteries are fully charged and ready to giddy up and hit the ground running once again.
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Jun 26, 2019If you’re looking for experiments with song structure or eclectic instrumentation, this probably isn’t the album for you. If you want something you can crank up at backyard barbecues or in the car with the windows down, well, The Black Keys have two words for you, and they’re in the album title.
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Classic Rock MagazineJul 24, 2019Southern rockers like Under The Gun, Get Yourself Together and Breaking Down are as infectious as mad cowboy disease. When they do branch out, it's into Fleetwood Mac gossamer balladry and adorable Stealers Wheel soft rock. They'll find that the world has not changed the locks. [Aug 2019, p.83]
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Jul 10, 2019By returning to their stylistic roots and incorporating recent projects and efforts, the Black Keys have delivered on the album's promise and in review, this is a strong rock album: lyrically moody and musically loud.
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Jul 8, 2019The duo's closeness shows in their competent performances, and "Let's Rock" is faithful in intent and execution. But it can also come across as a cheat—it's easy to fool anyone that you've done something worthy when you undersell it.
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Jul 2, 2019“Let’s Rock” is upfront about its meat-and-potatoes aspirations. This is an album by the Black Keys called “Let’s Rock.” It does.
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Jun 27, 2019Despite the quality of the songwriting and the performances, there’s something about Let’s Rock that feels like the two are tying up the band and bringing their music full circle. Whatever the intent and the future of the band, Let’s Rock is a solid release that should make fans happy, whether it’s a coda or just their latest record.
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UncutJun 26, 2019They're on fine form with the hammered glam-boogie of "Eagle Birds" and the absurdly good-time "Lo/Hi," but underwhelm with the mid-tempo "Walk Across The Water and QOTSA-ish "Shine A Little Light." [Aug 2019, p.26]
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Jul 29, 2019It’s as good a rock record as The Black Keys have in them in 2019, and odds are that will satisfy most fans.
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Jul 1, 2019It all adds up to an album that’s solid rather than spectacular.
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MojoJun 26, 2019There's no doubt these are expertly constructed songs, but it feels as if the emotional wiring h as been botched. ... Let's Rock lacks the connection to be truly electrifying. [Aug 2019, p.89]
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Jun 26, 2019Overthinking might be the enemy of rock’n’rollers everywhere, turning their instinctive licks into convoluted nightmares. But, in the case of Let’s Rock, a little more time fleshing things out from fine to thunderous could have made a world of difference.
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Aug 8, 2019It’s as close an approximation of before as they could possibly get - the result of 12 tracks being plopped out of a Black Keys song generator - but, five years down the line, you hope that people will demand more than that.
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Jul 9, 2019While there is nothing unpalatable on "Let's Rock", the majority of the tracks are missing that intangible ingredient from the music with only a few songs being a flawless merging of instrumental dexterity and fashionable spirit that allow these artists to explore their blues side while indulging their rock tendencies.
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Jun 26, 2019With a low-fi high-five feel, The Black Keys appear to gentrify the rock’n’roll rodeo with an album of carefully poised tunes adhering to the rock-pop formula they spent their golden years trying to avoid.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 74 out of 89
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Mixed: 10 out of 89
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Negative: 5 out of 89
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Jun 28, 2019
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Jun 29, 2019This had to be seventy five characters so let's rock my friends. X
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Jun 29, 2019Sometimes simplicity is the best kind of rock music. This album is full of great tracks just like any other Black Keys album.