The Black Keys Put a Spin on Their Sound With Twelfth Studio Album 'Ohio Players'
On the day The Black Keys released their twelfth studio album ‘Ohio Players’, I awoke to my entire Brooklyn apartment shaking like the crash of a bowling ball scattering pins. I’m no geologist, but I have a suspicion that the real culprit behind the surprise earthquake wasn’t a tectonic shift but the vibe shift of this album from The Black Keys’ established bluesy garage rock sound.
The bowling-themed Ohio Players aesthetics capture the album’s evocation of summer night hangouts with friends. Nostalgic, laid-back, familiar. Really, it’s the perfect bowling alley playlist of tunes that keep the energy high without making anyone want to cry or fight, but just edgy enough that they probably won’t be playing in an Old Navy ad. Well, maybe with the exception of the chipper “Beautiful People (Stay High).” You get the sense that the twelfth time around, the rock duo are having fun with their process.
The Black Keys are no rookies, and they’re self-aware they’ve entered the echelon of dad rock. In one of the Ohio Players promo videos, Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach get bowling shoes from a Gen-Z bowling alley employee wearing their band tee. When asked about her shirt, she says it was a gift from her dad—and he’s really old.
But just because The Black Keys are veterans of the music scene doesn’t mean they’ve stuck to their stylistic status quo. The album title, a reference to Auerbach and Carney’s Ohio roots and the funk band of the same name, hints at the throwback references and collaborative effort of the album. The pop, hip-hop, and funk influences of the album’s variety of contributors, including Beck and Noel Gallagher, adds a dynamic edge to The Black Keys’ tried-and-true, but not tired, sound.
The first track, “This is Nowhere,” has a punchy synth/clap beat reminiscent of 2010s pop-rock hits like Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks.” But maybe that stylistic association is because I first listened to The Black Keys when they released 2011’s El Camino, which I bought on CD and downloaded to my iPod nano . . . in middle school. (Again—Auerbach and Carney know they’ve been around the block before.) Speaking of El Camino, the star of the “Lonely Boy” music video makes his cinematic return for “On the Game.”
“Beautiful People (Stay High),” another pop-influenced track, is a saxophone-laden, feel-good groove that would be right at home in the end credits of an uplifting indie film. Need to refresh your beach playlist? The wavery, energetic guitar drone of “You’ll Pay” and “Read Em and Weep” conjure a surf-rock timbre that meshes well with The Black Keys’ characteristic dense and buzzy tone.
“Fever Tree” is the strike of the album, the song truest to what you would expect from The Black Keys’ core sound. It opens with a light, psychedelic melody that immediately differentiates it from the twang of the previous track “Read Em and Weep.” Then heavy riffs, snappy drums, and bright synth deliver the punch that makes the tune a standout for rock lovers.
And for fans of rap, there’s something for you, too. “Candy and Her Friends” (feat. Lil Noid) and “Paper Crown” (feat. Beck and Juicy J) are both stylistic splits between blues and hip-hop. Like the lyrics of “Candy and Her Friends” suggests, the slick rhythm was made to be blasted in the car with the windows down and sunglasses on. “Paper Crown” opens with DJ-style vinyl scratching layered with bouncy bass and cymbals. Juicy J’s syncopated rapping over a synth whine reinforces that The Black Keys are confident enough with what they bring to the table to experiment outside of their genre’s expectations.
Sometimes, the second bowl hits all the right pins. The album’s spare is “I Forgot to Be Your Lover,” a soulful groove first recorded in 1968 by William Bell. The Black Keys’ cover is a faithful recreation of the original, proving that change doesn’t necessarily make something better—except, of course, this album’s revamp of their sound.
Ohio Players is a testament to why The Black Keys are still heavy-hitters within their genre more than two decades since their debut. Willing to grow beyond the formula of past success, they reinvented their own sound by working backwards from their influences to move forward. The eclectic mix of genre elements within Ohio Players highlights the rhythmic and tonal foundations that culminated into the modern garage rock sound. It’s a nod to the fact that no music exists within a vacuum, especially within an artist’s own repertoire.
The Black Keys’ stylistic evolution is tinged with the irony of its nostalgic inspirations, but the result is a balance of innovation and familiarity that makes Ohio Players a standout within their body of work. If this album is up your alley, the International Players Tour starts September 17 and runs through November 12.