2019-07-01_Uncut_UK

JULY 2019 • UNCUT• 71

bestalbumsTheBlackKeysmakearewhenwe’vehad
a lotoftimeoff,”saysAuerbach.“Beingaroundthose
otherguysandlearningsomuchmademeexcited
aboutplayingguitaragain.It clearedmymindand
it madeit somuchmoreenjoyablewhenI gotback
togetherwithPat.We’dhadallthattimeoffandthere
wasn’tanyofthatstale,we’ve-been-on-stage-doing-
this-shit-over-and-over-and-over-againthing.It was
morelike,‘Whata cool-assdrummerPatis!’I got
remindedagainhowawesomeheis.It feltveryfresh
andthatwould’vebeenimpossibleif wehadn’ttaken
thattimeoff.Therecordis a testamenttothatfeeling.”
Thesessionscameasa relieftoCarney,whohad
beguntogetanxiousaboutthefutureoftheband.“It
hadgottothepoint,”hereveals,“whereI wouldsitin
frontofthecomputerandlookatWikipediatosee
whatbandshaveevertakena five-yearbreakand
thencamebackandmadea record.notjusta tour.
Thereactuallyweren’ttonsofthembackintheday.
Therehavebeenmorerecently.ArcadeFiretook
maybefouryearsandVampireWeekendtooksix.”
Truetoform,CarneyandAuerbachdidn’tgointo
thestudioheavilyprepared.“Wewrote’emallon
thespot,”revealsAuerbach.“Ididn’tbringanything
inwithme.I didn’twanttooverthinkit.I wantedit
tofeelspontaneous.I wantedtobeabletolike
recordsomethingnotdissimilarto‘LouieLouie’
andbeperfectlyhappy with it. I was looking for
TheTroggs.”
The 12 songson“Let’sRock”area returnto
whattheBlackKeysdobest.Thesesongsare
tightlyfocused,theirpleasuresimmediate.
“ShineA LittleLight”is builtarounda monster
riff;theinsistentboogieof“EagleBirds”recalls
theloudandloosebrillianceofearlyZZTop.
There’ssoul-popsymphony(“SitAroundAnd
Miss You”), soft psych (“Go”) and stadium-sized

classicrock(“UnderTheGun”).Forallitsmusical

d iversit y,“Let’sRock”neversoundsincoherent.

That’sbecausethesongsareimplicitlyconnectedby

Auerbach’svocals– careworn,brooding– andthe

tightrelationshipbetween Auerbach’s guitar and

Carney’sdrumming.

Carneydescribesthesessionsas“anactofjoy”.

Hecontinues,“It’sa productoftwodudeswhogrew

uptogetherandina wayweconqueredtheworld

together,ourway,andhavebeenthrougha bunch

ofshit,andnowwe’regettingbackonthesame

pageandhavingfun.There’smorejokinghappening

inthestudiothananythingelse.Theworldhas

changeddrasticallysincewebegan.Westarted

ammingtogether, formed the band, it was right

before9/11.”

Thetitle,meanwhile,suggesteda higherpurpose

wasatwork.“Wewereinthestudioandweturnedon

henewsandthefirstpersoninTennesseetodieby

electricchairin 11 yearswasabouttobeexecuted,”

aysAuerbach.“HediedthedaybeforeGlenndidon

november1, 2018.Theyaskedhimif hehadanylast

wordsbeforetheypulledtheswitch,andhesaid,‘Let’s

ck.’Wastherea clearermessagethanthat?Sowe

alledthealbum‘Let’sRock’, andthere’sa pictureof

anelectricchaironthefront.Wasjustmeanttobe.

e wouldnevercalla record‘Let’sRock’withoutthe

lectricchaironthecover.ButI lovethistitleespecially

because 99 percentofpeoplearegoingtothinkit’s

aboutrock’n’roll.Andit’sthethingwelikeleast.We’renot

ock’n’rollguys.Wefuckinghaterock’n’rollguys.We

lwayshave.Theideaof pyrotechnics on stage and lasers

s alwayssogoofy.”

Butyouhavemadea rockrecord...

“Yeah,yeah,”hesays,almostdismissively.“But

t’sa rockrecordthat’srecordedona computer,

mixed on a computer. Big, huge low-end. It’s different. alysse gafkjen

“W e hate

rOck’n’rOll

guys.We

a lWay s

h av e ”

da n au er bach

Workingon

“Let’sRock”at

EasyEyeSound,

January 2019