Monday, March 16, 2009

Assessment: Dan Auerbach's Solo Album, Keep It Hid


Dan Auerbach has been quite busy since his latest album with The Black Keys, Attack & Release, dropped on April 1. On February 10, Keep It Hid snuck onto the scene leering and quickly marked its territory as a solo project that does not disappoint. The retro treasure was recorded at Auerbach’s home studio in Akron, Ohio. Laden with blues folk, the album opens with the acoustic, “Trouble Weighs A Ton”, before launching into the grittier sounds of psychedelic rock.

By the time “The Prowl” starts playing, you will probably have a bottle of whiskey in your hands and a swagger in your step. Auerbach menacingly croons, “I see you walkin’ after dark/ Trading looks with other men/ But I’m the only one you need/ And I know just where you’ve been” and you can practically picture him making eyes at you from across a smoky dive bar too late at night.

One of my favorites is the paranoid track, “When I Left The Room”. In a haunting whir of soulful psychedelia, Auerbach artfully laments a love affair gone rotten. He unapologetically moans, “But now her eyes foretell/ Only impending doom/ And I just wanna know/ What she said when I left the room.”

Although still a tad melancholy, “Goin’ Home” is more uplifting than its previous contenders. It rounds out the album with a comforting and familiar twang. Auerbach seems to have found a morsel of peace as he openly admits, “I want the sun to hit my face/ Through oak trees in the open lot/ Forget about the things you want/ Be thankful for what all you got.”

The Prowl mp3
When I Left The Room mp3
Mean Monsoon mp3

For more information check out Dan Auerbach's myspace page.

2 comments:

  1. Ultimately I don't find this solo effort musically, as appealing as his work with The Black Keys.I know he should be judged on his own
    merits.But can't help but compare.

    Saying all of the above, it is a decent album and
    worth giving a listen to.

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  2. I totally get where you're coming from. Tried my best to separate the two and not compare them but it did prove difficult. In the end, I decided that Auerbach's solo effort possesses an intimacy that The Black Keys sometimes lacks (although that's not necessarily a bad thing). To each his own!

    Thanks for reading!

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