Sunday, January 9th 2011
News: The Black Keys
The Black Keys Show SNL How It’s Done
The Black Keys made a celebrated stop on Saturday Night Live this weekend, rocking two tracks off their phenomenal 2010 album Brothers. Enjoy Howlin’ For You:
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.
and Tighten Up:
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.
Once again, SNL’s sound guy is the cause of great frustration, though his hackery on the levels was limited to chorus guitar fuzz overload. A forgivable offense for getting the Keys some solid TV time… though seeds have been planted for a published verbal assault on the man.
That whole show was solid for once. I couldn’t take the days when Tina Fey was writing and managing every goddamn thing– including putting Amy Pohler in every single skit simply because they came up together. Pohler was alright. She was no Molly Shannon. And whenever I mention that Tina Fey blows chunks some people say, “she was great as Palin.” Great. And Joe Piscopo was great as Sinatra. Who gives a fuck? She can’t write a joke to save her life.
Oh, well… insomnia and rambling during a Sunday morning…
Yeah, I thoroughly disagree with absolutely everything you just said. The SNL episode was a complete dud aside from a few skits (and the Keys’ performance) – compare it to Carrey’s previous appearance on the show. Legendary. And Fey’s one of the best (female) things to ever happen to SNL – the relentless greatness of 30 Rock proves that every week.
Well, if you thought that the Black Swan bit was bad then our comedic tastes are totally divergent.
I have much more of the Smigel/Herlihy/Handey style.
And I usually kill at open mics (in front of jaded L.A. comics, no less), although I admit when I fail such as two nights ago when I tested new material then wanted to go on a killing rampage for a fraction of a second because I felt as if I were speaking to morons who couldn’t understand what I was saying.
ANYWAY….
Fey’s style is waaaaayyy too conventional and reserved for me (and many other L.A. comics, actually).
But… different strokes.
The mere fact that I felt compelled to return to this page and clarify that the “killing rampage” remark was a gross exaggeration and I, in fact, admire all my fellow L.A. comics for their bravery indicates that the terrorists won a long time ago.
The Black Swan skit was the non-musical highlight of the night.
I totally agree with everything Johnny Firecloud said about the episode. And thank you for this post. I was trying to find out the name of the last song they did. It was amazing! I’m going to buy the Brothers CD.
its called “tighten up”. great song!
I’ve been waiting for this shit for a few weeks now…
I thought the sound tech allowed the organ become more of the sound than they should have, really need to understand the dynamics of a band before the mix is set.
Love everything the Black Keys do…
Also really enjoying Cage the Elephant… kinda similar gritty rock sound but definitely awesome. They have a new album, Thank You Happy Birthday that drops 1/11
http://www.cagetheelephant.com
While watching these performances all I could think was “The drummer is so fucking cool!” Fuck SNL for not being funny.
Call me crazy, but it seems as if bands always sound like shit on TV. Letterman, Leno, SNL – they all sound like shit.
Black Keys certainly rocked it. That drummer is cool as shit looking I agree. In a weird Buddy Holly sorta way. Tina Fey is very funny but that’s really beside the point. SNL does the best it can with the limited writing it has. Jim Carrey is hilarious, but maybe a little contrived this time. The opening monolouge was funny. I thought the creepy animatronic amusement park ride sketch was good, but otherwise, the show was a bit lackluster. Nothing can top Carrey’s manic “Ride the Snake” sketch from a few years back. That one is priceless.
To me this was the worst SNL episode I have ever had the displeasure of watching, apart from The Black Keys, the whole thing was pure shit. To have the audacity to show the same clip about pubic hair (which was great for the first couple of times) over, and over again, damn! And what about that annoying mute effect during chorus of Howlin’ for You, not to mention they played “Tighten Up” kind of funkier on Letterman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ojcl9dRRDs
Letterman: Nice job, beautiful drums are these yours?
Carney: No.
This single response from Patrick made me laugh harder than that entire episode of SNL.
Hi. This is the first time I have checked out the blog. Thanks for sharing the Black Keys vids. I had missed it the other night and really wanted to check it out. About to go check out some more of the site. Looks like something I’ll dig. Have a good one.
Oh, baby, so, so sweet…
I liked The Black Lips better the first time around, when they were called The White Stripes. Oh, wait…. Is that a different band?
Son, you’ve got yourself a hell of a lot of music learnin’ to do.
I don’t really think so. The Black Keys and The White Stripes both have a ton in common. They both pretend to be two-piece black blues bands. Except The White Stripes did it ten years earlier. Listen to De Stijl and tell me it doesn’t sound like “This Is An Album By blah blah blah etc etc.”
You’re kidding, right? They started at the same time.
I just happen to find the whole “we-recycle-old-blues-progressions-and-stylings-but-we’re-really-a-contemporary-rock-band” thing a little bit stale. The White Stripes did it fairly well, but even they were just playing stuff that other, better bands had been doing for years (e.g. The Brian Jonestown Massacre). I don’t see what’s new or original about playing stuff you can find in any delta blues songbook on an electric guitar.
Don’t feed the trolls.
Oh, no. I’ve been labelled. You win. My point stands either way. I’m sorry I don’t fellate your taste like other shmucks.
Catch a live White Stripes show and then tell me Jack’s riding someone else’s coattails or shaping his sound around someone else. The blues is a box in which many phenomenal artists work, and there is a unifying element to them all. But to compare the Black Keys and White Stripes as even faintly xeroxed is an exercise in musical ignorance that yes, labels you a troll. They’re both two-pieces with blues fire, but the translation and passion is worlds apart.
I didn’t know contributing to a music blog made one an arbiter of what is or isn’t “musical ignorance”. I don’t need to catch a live show to listen to the music, scratch my head and say “That’s funny, these songs sound really similar to a lot of other songs I’ve heard.” Though I have seen them live, and I actually like their music. And I don’t much care about the “translation” or the “passion.” Whatever abstract, subjective, fluffy terminology you want to dress the songs in doesn’t really change the fact that at their core, in very concrete and observable MUSICAL ways, they’re a rehashing that does little to advance or alter anything, or offer listeners something they couldn’t find from another band if they were just a little bit more pro-active in their research than say, just buying whatever some blog or magazine tells them to. For all of the artists out there who actually have the balls to create something that’s more than just idol-worship, hearing bands like these (to say nothing of watching them bask in tired adulation by a media too lazy and cozy with the industry to bother giving up-and-comers the time of day) will always warrant a groan. Especially, in the White Stripes case, by their 6th (and soon 7th) full-length.
I wish we had a use on the AQ team for a cat who’s got a knack for talkin’ out his neck with blind bravado – you’re so *thorough* with the backhands! Now that you’ve broadened the scope of your naive complaints to the entirety of the industry as well as music listeners on the whole, perhaps it’s time to examine market impact/saturation vs. the channels a progressively evolutionary artist must travel to get heard, and who’s in place to recognize and promote it. Your broadstroke dismissals of White’s innovation aren’t supported with facts, but hypotheticals and critical errors in assessment. The work speaks for itself.
What a cynical, ignorant asshole. Talk about psuedo-purist bullshit spouting.
(I’m talking about Evan, not the Black Keys)
I talk out of my mouth, like anyone with a halfway normal anatomy does. And backhands are for wife-abusers. I’m not saying The White Stripes or The Black Keys are “bad” bands or make “bad” music. Such objective judgments regarding matters of taste and a discourse whose output is entirely subjective are fruitless and ultimately pointless. But what I am saying is that The Black Keys are extremely similar to The White Stripes, who were themselves extremely similar to bands who came before them. Personally, I find both of their sounds enjoyable, and I have immense respect for both acts for putting in their work and playing music that they obviously love. But I’m not going to pretend that it’s something I’ve never heard before, or something that hasn’t been done before. Because it’s neither of those things. Nor am I going to spare judgment on those who offer it to me that way. But what I will do is offer my opinion on an open comment board, because that’s the whole point of it being there.. Besides, this forum is a hell of a lot more entertaining and interesting when people actually challenge what you think.
And you can keep your silly little AQ club.
Seems like you guys are spending more time trying to top Evan’s diction than you are to read what hes saying and make some sense.
When you troll a site with snarky cynicism, get called on it and throw yourself into a sprawling condemnation of the industry, music listeners and the state of music in general, you’re not exactly moving the conversation/debate in any sort of progressive direction. The industry climate has been well documented, even within these pages. Is there really a point to arguing whether the blues is something we’ve ever heard before? I can’t speak for the Black Keys, but Jack’s pushing envelopes and boundaries. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. “Yes he is!” – “No he isn’t!” – “Yes he is!” – done.
You should check out the black keys live on jools holland, They were on a couple of months ago and ive been really intrested in their sounds since.
Jools holland is probibly the best thing to happen to music since most of society would rather listin to cheryl cole or lady gaga talk about a telephone.
I can honestly say the UK has let itself down within the last decade, i dont know if the USA has heard N-Dubz yet, i dont get how society can buy into that crap. People in the UK take that music serious and the band members are real people, people from outside the UK probibly think theyre a joke and in a way they are a joke. Theyre a joke to the greatness of music that has originated from the UK. Led Zepplin, Clapton, The Clash, Sex Pistols.