warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

The Black Keys Vs. Jack White: The Feud Continues

Ashley Hawkins |
April 14, 2014 | 8:15 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

The alt rock icons face off again this summer with new releases from The Black Keys and Jack White. (Photo via @MissKerr87)
The alt rock icons face off again this summer with new releases from The Black Keys and Jack White. (Photo via @MissKerr87)
Ideally, art – especially music – is a collaborative enterprise in which creative individuals combine their talents to produce something – a song, an album, or even a band – that is unique, inspirational, captivating, and most importantly, unifying. 

However, this is not an ideal world. With all the egos involved in the music industry, feuds, and juvenile competitions are inevitable and sometimes become as notable as the bands and artists themselves.

Initiating one of the most recent over-publicized rivalries, Jack White dissed Dan Auerbach for supposedly copying him to achieve fame for The Black Keys, who beat Jack White in three categories at the 2012 Grammys.

ALSO READ: Easter Treats In L.A.

Now, with both The Black Keys and Jack White set to release new albums this summer (“Turn Blue” and “Lazaretto” respectively), the feud between these alt rock icons is sure to resume. Thus, the question remains: who will have the better album?

The Black Keys' new album is due out on May 13. (Photo via nonesuch.com)
The Black Keys' new album is due out on May 13. (Photo via nonesuch.com)

If “Fever,” the first single off “Turn Blue,” is any indication of how the rest of the album will sound, then The Black Keys have certainly changed a lot, and not for the better.

Although “Fever” is not terrible, it lacks the bluesy grooves and garage rock grittiness of The Black Keys’ earlier records, such as 2003’s “Thickfreakness."

In fact, except for Dan Auerbach’s distinctive voice, “Fever” sounds like a song by The Strokes, or worse, like the Scooby Doo theme song in its drum production and 1970s-ish synth.

The term “sellout” is maybe a little harsh to use against The Black Keys, but the loss of originality in “Fever” seems to signal their descent into conventionality. I mean, Dan Auerbach is producing Lana Del Rey’s latest album and The Black Keys had Mike Tyson announce their new album – what is more mainstream than that?  

June 10 is the expected release date of Jack White's second solo album. (Photo via thirdmanrecords.com)
June 10 is the expected release date of Jack White's second solo album. (Photo via thirdmanrecords.com)

Alternatively, Jack White’s new single, “High Ball Stepper,” reinforces his commitment to maintaining artistry above all. Sure, in many ways, “High Ball Stepper” sounds like a typical Jack White song, especially with the effect he uses on his guitar during the solo halfway through the track and the simple guitar licks throughout.

However, his experimentation with distorted siren-sounding guitar as a central component of the song and his ability to incorporate the piano into such a heavy song (just listen to the drum backbeat) are fresh additions to his signature sound. Oh, and the song is an instrumental, a rather avant-garde choice for a first single. Extrapolating from “High Ball Stepper,” “Lazaretto” should not disappoint.

Although Jack White certainly hold advantage over The Black Keys as of now (at least in my opinion), hopefully upcoming singles from “Turn Blue” will be more impressive than “Fever.”

Reach Staff Reporter Ashley Hawkins here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness