ALBUM REVIEW: The Black Keys Keep Their Groove Going on ‘Dropout Boogie’

Photo by Jim Herrington

Dan Auerbach has spent the last five years championing burgeoning artists through his label and studio Easy Eye Sound. Collaborating with artists like Yola, Early James, The Velveteers, and Ceramic Animal, it is a wonder how the prolific Auerbach can still find the time and inspiration for The Black Keys, his original outfit with bandmate Patrick Carney (who’s also a successful producer at his own studio, Audio Eagle). But with each of the band’s releases, Auerbach and Carney somehow pull out all the stops. Dropout Boogie, The Black Keys’ 11th studio album, is no exception.

At this point, they make their particular brand of greasy blues rock feel effortless, and to hear the duo tell it, it is. Written entirely in the studio, Dropout Boogie doesn’t overthink it. The riffs are spicy, the harmonies groovy, the drums heavy and loose, just the way they should be. Be it the sultry kiss-off “How Long,” the pumped-up hype song “Your Team is Looking Good,” or the soulful dancefloor bait “Wild Child,” Carney and Auerbach are in top form.

Even though some new blood was welcomed into the exclusive duo’s fold, there are no big surprises on Dropout Boogie. But there needn’t be when they’ve so mastered their sound. Players like legendary ZZ Top guitarist Billy F. Gibbons, Greg Cartwright, and Angelo Petraglia up the instrumental ante for what often sounds — in the best way — like a big ol’ jam session. The songs are filled out, perfectly oozy and fuzzed.

Though Carney and Auerbach have intermittently taken time off, played in other projects, and proven themselves reliable producers, Dropout Boogie is a reminder that there’s nothing quite like coming home. The fact that Dropout Boogie arrives almost exactly on the 20th anniversary of their first record feels especially fitting. No matter how much they may stretch, they can always comfortably pick up where they left off.

Dropout Boogie is out May 13 on Nonesuch Records.