If you were Dan Auerbach, a 28-year-old dude from Ohio who could sing like Buddy Guy, how hard would you look for ways to switch that up? If your beard were the envy of all men, save Sam Beam, how much would you worry about stagnancy? How many floors would you go around stomping on to find out if they all rang out with that same clapboard thud?

I wouldn’t. You guys are so lucky I’m not Dan Auerbach because I wouldn’t deflect a single arching blow of that blues hammer into any other possibly less badass endeavor. I would stalk the earth with my axe slung over my back like an elephant rifle and devour young, supple…well it doesn’t really matter what I’d do.

What does matter is that “Psychotic Girl” intros with an Ozark banjo line, a chilly Patrick Carney beat, and a twittering piano. When Auerbach chimes in he’s pulled his propulsive vocals down taut into a sinister groan. When he says, “I thought long and hard ‘bout what I should say / And when I was through it just came out this way,” it’s an odd sensation when you realize that you kinda believe him. Even when the choir of ghosts hums a harmony in the background and a synth-like sound mimics the guitar’s breakdown after the second verse, you kinda believe that this is just the next thing that the Black Keys woke up and decided to do.

If I said it sounded forced, or strange, or odd, or anything short of badass in its own way, it would just be a blurting utterance of my seething envy upon discovering yet another awesome trick that Dan Auerbach can perform seemingly effortlessly.

permanent link ::