Black Keys guitarist and singer Dan Auerbach brought together studio musicians with diverse backgrounds in rock, soul, Latin and country for his new band, The Arcs. Photo / AP
Black Keys guitarist and singer Dan Auerbach brought together studio musicians with diverse backgrounds in rock, soul, Latin and country for his new band, The Arcs. Photo / AP
What are the Black Keys to do when they're missing a Black Key? For Dan Auerbach, his bandmate Patrick Carney's troublesome shoulder injury caused the cancellation of an entire Keys tour, but freed him up to focus on something new.
Meet The Arcs, Auerbach's self-described "extra-weird" new band. When comparedto the Keys, the quartet are a bit strange: Yours, Dreamily lands with occasional touches of carnival frivolities, spontaneous outbursts of mariachi and lyrical references to boxing sung by Auerbach in falsetto. In reality, The Arcs aren't that weird at all. Recorded quickly without the weight of expectation that comes with a Black Keys release, Yours, Dreamily coasts along like a lazy summer day spent chilling with a best buddy.
If you're a Keys fan, there are moments that deliver the kind of fuzzed-out blues-stomp we've come to expect: Outta My Mind kicks along like a rollicking Keys classic, while The Arc delivers a hummable hook that has Auerbach crooning: "Today is going to be the day / That all my sins get washed away." And that boxing song, Stay in My Corner, is actually a super-sweet song that shows Auerbach has moved past the bitter divorce that inspired the last Black Keys' album, Turn Blue.
Occasionally, The Arcs reach even greater heights than the Keys: try the woozy electro waltz of Put a Flower in Your Pocket, a song that ends with an all-in jam session, or the superior ballad Rosie (Ooh La La) which mines the same kind of territory as the last Broken Bells album. As for those mariachi elements, they should be abrasive, but swimming in and out of focus throughout the album just adds to the album's "kick off the jandals and jam in the back yard" vibe. "Is anything we do ever gonna last?" sings Auerbach on album closer Searching the Blue. "You'll never know unless you press record."
It's a great metaphor for the freedom he obviously felt while making Yours, Dreamily. It's an album that could have been the next Black Keys record, and Carney's injury meant New Zealand fans missed out on another Black Keys tour, but it doesn't matter: Auerbach's just given us the perfect summer soundtrack - and that's worth celebrating with a Corona or two.
Artist: The Arcs Album: Yours, Dreamily Label: Nonesuch Records Verdict: Black Key's solo session feels funky and fresh
