Black Keys' breakthrough year: Here's how they did it
The Black Keys – singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney -- have been doing the slow, steady build since their 2002 debut album. By the end of 2009, they had released seven albums and were big enough to sell out the 2,500-capacity Riviera twice at year’s end.
Then things got out of hand. Their eighth album, “Brothers” (Nonesuch), yielded their first radio hit, the whistle-stoked, Danger Mouse-produced “Tighten Up.” Four Grammy nominations followed, including nods for best rock song and best alternative album. The band’s audience exploded; Carney and Auerbach will close 2010 with three sold-out concerts at the 4,500-capacity Aragon Ballroom.
“Tighten Up” capped the “Brothers” recording session and was a conscious effort to nail down a song that might get some spins on commercial radio, Carney says. It injected a few more hooks into the duo’s trademark sound: a blues-based minimalism that embraces moaning-at-midnight vocals and trance-like grooves.
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