New Music From The Black Keys: Peaches!

Although the opening moments of The Black Keys' (Dan Auerbach [Tape Op #127] and Patrick Carney [#136]) new release, Peaches!, sounds like a Tinariwen record, it quickly settles in to a familiar, loose, bluesy, and reverb-soaked groove, and doesn't relent for the album's ten tracks. The influence of Hill Country blues masters Junior Kimborough and R.L. Burnside are evident throughout the hypnotic stomps of "Stop Arguing Over Me" and "Tomorrow Night". There are moments that feel like the ghost of Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green was in the room, and others that conjure up the spirits of bands like The Faces, ZZ Top, and The Allman Brothers. Peaches! is a loose, and sometimes close to coming off the rails offering, which is welcome in a world of perfectly quantized and sanitized, and sometimes AI-generated pop music.

This album is greasy, gritty, dirty, rough, tough, and real. When I listen to it I smell the wood smoke from a barrel smoker, and feel the humidity of a sun-soaked summer day in the South fading into dusk. Friends jamming into the open air well into the evening's darkness. Everyone is invited, and everyone showed up.

Peaches! was produced and mixed by Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney at Dan's Easy Eye Sound with additional contributions from Kenny Brown (guitar),Eric Deaton (bass), Jimbo Mathus (backing vocals, Wurlitzer, synthesizer, guitar, organ, bells, harp, piano), Tommy Brenneck [#147] (horn arrangements) Cochemea Gastelum (alto sax), Jared Tankel (baritone sax), Ian Hendrickson-Smith (tenor sax), Dave Guy (trumpet), Chris St. Hilaire (tambourine/shaker), Andy Gabbard (backing vocals), and Kenny Kimborough (drums). Additional engineering/mixing by M. Allen Parker, Jonny Ullman, Henry Bright, Tate Sablatura, Tyler Zwiep, Simon Guzman. Mastered by Ryan Smith.