Dan Auerbach

As the oft-bearded frontman of blues-rock duo The Black Keys, Dan Auerbach has always seemed like an old soul. Deeply influenced by blues legends like Junior Kimbrough and T-Model Ford, Auerbach belts the raspy blues like he's infected by them—not like a fashion statement he could wear and discard at will. The Black Keys made a quick mark in the indie rock world, helped at least in part by the explosion of The White Stripes, and words like “duo” and “blues” becoming bigger buzzwords (the Keys themselves were understandably always leery of being grouped into any sort of movement).

But while The Black Keys have solidified their standing, it’s difficult to shake the feeling that they’ve gotten a little stagnant; even a well-publicized collaboration with Danger Mouse on their last record, Attack & Release, turned out to not be a radical repositioning. How, then, would Auerbach approach an album without his faithful companion and drum pounder, Patrick Carney?

Auerbach starts and finishes Keep It Hid as though the solo approach will mellow him out; there have already been brushes of garage balladry and slow blues moaners in the Black Keys catalog, of course. But the old-fashioned folksiness of opener "Trouble Weighs A Ton" is more stripped down than any of that, and Auerbach makes it connect with a typically strong vocal, supplemented by rich harmonies from his uncle James Quine. Midway through the album, he quiets down again for a pretty-sounding but somewhat forgettable duet with Jessica Lea Mayfield, a young discovery of Auerbach's (he produced her debut last year).

Most of Keep It Hid, though, keeps Auerbach squarely in his comfort zone; even though it's a solo album, churning rockers like "I Want Some More" make more of an impression not because Auerbach is alone but because he’s got more muscle behind him than a single drumkit (though make no mistake, that drumkit makes plenty of racket). As a singer and guitarist, Auerbach is again more than up to task. He especially has some ace moments on guitar; the title track features a smoking psychedelic jam that can practically give you a contact buzz. Some of his most commanding, gut-stirring performances have been covers and interpretations (see his takes on Kimbrough, for instance). His own songwriting has yet to hit those consistent heights; as a result, Keep It Hid is familiar and satisfying, but not stunning or surprising.

—Adam McKibbin
02.20.09

Whenever the lead singer/songwriter in a two-person group steps out with a solo album, the first question that comes to mind is whether the musician needed to go out on his own, whether he could possibly be constrained by his lone partner. In the case of Dan Auerbach, the guitarist and singer for the Black Keys, it's not so much that Pat Carney holds him back as that he's such a distinctive, powerful drummer that he colors and changes Auerbach's playing; it's what band chemistry is all about. Opening his own studio, Akron Analog, gave Auerbach an excuse to cut an album without Carney, and 2009's Keep It Hid is at once completely similar and totally different than the Black Keys. All the same musical touchstones remain -- primarily classic post-WWII blues, often filtered through '60s and early-'70s classic rock -- but without Carney the attack isn't savage, focusing on feel instead of force. To a certain extent, the Black Keys followed that aesthetic on the Danger Mouse-produced 2008 LP Attack & Release, but "Keep It Hid" lacks its studied, self-conscious atmospherics, along with Carney's wallop. Auerbach compensates by letting everything on "Keep It Hid" breathe -- there's space in his songs and his production, there are ragged edges, room echo, and natural distortion, all making it feel alluringly out of time. It follows that the album boasts more quiet acoustic moments than the Black Keys' records, but the difference is just as evident in songs that are closer to Auerbach's bluesy signature: "I Want Some More" has a thick, swampy rhythm that never quite gets menacing, "Heartbroken, In Disrepair" swirls, and the dramatic build of "When I Left the Room" has an almost psychedelic undertow, "Mean Monsoon" steps cleanly and precisely in contrast to the slow-crawling murk of "Keep It Hid," while the tremendous "My Last Mistake" is the poppiest song Auerbach has ever written. There's variety here, but Keep It Hid never draws attention to Auerbach's eclecticism, especially because it moves along at a rapid clip, never staying in one place too long. It all feels organic, right down to how it feels natural for Auerbach to step outside of the Black Keys to release this album: it really is something that he couldn't have made with Carney, and its existence winds up confirming the immense talents of both musicians. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide