If the music industry has taught us anything in the past few years, it's this: One, retro anything is almost guaranteed success; and two, if a band wants to emulate any classic sound of any genre from any time period, the technology is there that will easily enough let them do it. For instance, Akron, OH's THE BLACK KEYS have managed to capture the classic blues rock style of B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix. Normally that wouldn't be very noteworthy, but this time its two white guys - Dan Auerbach on guitar and vocals, and Patrick Carney on drums, and that's it. Fortunately, they know their craft and can bust out some impressive licks regardless of their who they are. Now one can't help but notice that they don't even have a bassist. Surprisingly, though, thanks to Auerbach keeping relatively low on the strings (much like Hendrix) and Carney's power behind the kit, their sound is actually quite full. These songs are generally of the Mississippi electric blues variety ("Your Touch", "Goodbye Babylon"), but there are some pretty hard rocking tracks that are a throwback to some of the earliest proto-metal ("Just a Little Heat", "Just Got to Be"), along with a few soulful bluesy ballads ("You're the One", "The Flame"). The best part is - get ready for all caps - NO 12-BAR BLUES IN SIGHT! Woo-hoo!

So even if they are two white guys making this music, does that really make them special? The music industry seems to think so, since they've already gotten all sorts of attention on TV shows, commercials and in movies. To be fair, in a world with guys like that old fart Eric Clapton and so-called "promising upstarts" like Jonny Lang (Anyone else remember him? Didn't think so.), a white blues player has just about everything working against him. What's important is that what these guys do they do quite well, and although they won't win over anyone who detests the blues, their success up to this point is well deserved.

- Cardona

OFFICIAL SITE: www.theblackkeys.com

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