The Black Keys:
Brothers

My gears they grind
More each day
And I feel like
They're gonna grind away

And the city blocks
They drive me wild
They're never ending
Mile after mile

I just don't know what to do
I'm too afraid to love you

It's heaven on earth
In her embrace
Her gentle touch
And her smiling face

I'm just one wishing
That I was a pair
With someone
Oh somewhere

All those sleepless nights
And all those wasted days
I wish loneliness would leave me
But I think he's here to stay
What more can I do
I'm wringing myself dry
And I can't afford to lose
One more teardrop from my eye

Rather than high school poetry, I would say that the lyrics are reminiscent of the intrinsic simplicity that has been present in blues music since its beginnings. And those are pretty harsh words, especially from the publication that said the Avett Bros had the best album of 2009...

I'll have to agree with Adam for the most part. I too get the feeling that there's a quaint simplicity about the lyrics.

Coincidentally, I think Black Mud is my favorite track so far.

This a the run away album of the year so far for me. Its a breath of fresh are.

I have to agree - this review downplays a seriously awesome album. The 'whiny' lyrics have been a staple of blues rock for years.

Album's great, reviewer just likes to hate.

This is a great album, hands down. Good music, with simplistic, generalized lyrics, just like most other blues and Black Keys songs. Has the reviewer even listened to the other BK albums? I wonder what his take is on those.

I agree with everyone on this post thus far. I bought the album a day late on wed. drove to St. Louis and found it to be one of the great road records. Plus who invest their time, money, and heart on the lyricism of TBK? I don't expect it, I don't need it! As much as I like Attack and Release, Brothers may be even better, but it's still early. 90\100

Kind of wildly missing the point, I think. But then, again, I don't know why everyone's so thrilled by Tallest Man on Earth (unlistenable faux-earthy dreck). And Flying Lotus? (Flying Fern Bar). For me, this is an album of the year contender, Bearded White Boy/Guitars Division.

Dude, your reviews are so banal that they're hardly worth the trouble. I want to hear you compose music like them. I want you to come up with riffs, I want you to also play guitar and sing like Dan, thank God we have a modern guitarist like him.

Seriously, did you hear the whole album? How the hell else would you want Dan to sing? The production quality is amazing, really top-notch. "You're the only one" is the only song I skip sometimes, other than that, 14 solid tracks. Groovy guitar lines, nice drum beats, and some soulful singing.

And "Too afraid to love you" is a great track, definitely hearing the R&B/Blakroc influence in that song.

Here's my brief recap of some of my favorites:
Everlasting Night - Nice groovy song, reminds me "I'll be Your man" a little poppier, but still a great way to start the album
Next Girl: Nice heavy riffs & solos
Tighten Up: We've all heard it, amazing song.
Howlin' For You - Check out the live vids of this, good riffs, fuzz, and solos
Black mud - A trippy instrumental with good riffs and solos as well
Too Afraid to love you - Nice heavy R&B feeling song. Sounds like Dan's using a harpsichord or something, one of my favorites.
Ten Cent Pistol - Real jazzy song
Sinister Kid- Probably my favorite just because it has some of Dan's greatest slide playing, listen to the guitar solo!
Never Give you up - Great song, nice vocals, guitar lines. Dan's singing really high here, almost didn't recognize his voice at first.

NOW GO BUY THE ALBUM

The Black Keys have never been a band that's wowed with their lyrics. Some of their best songs have the simplest choruses ever--e.g. "I'll be your man," "Have love. Will travel," "10 AM automatic" ... those aren't the song titles, those are the choruses. Dan Auerbach isn't Sufjan Stevens, he's not trying to weave some sort of amazing folk tapestry; he's trying to rock and keep things simple. Could the lyrics improve? Absolutely. Do they detract from the album? Absolutely not. (sidenote: I think Auerbach proved with his solo album that he can branch out lyrically if he wants to)

The Black Keys have never been a band that's wowed with their lyrics. Some of their best songs have the simplest choruses ever--e.g. "I'll be your man," "Have love. Will travel," "10 AM automatic" ... those aren't the song titles, those are the choruses. Dan Auerbach isn't Sufjan Stevens, he's not trying to weave some sort of amazing folk tapestry; he's trying to rock and keep things simple. Could the lyrics improve? Absolutely. Do they detract from the album? Absolutely not.

(Sidenote: I think Auerbach proved with his solo album that he can branch out lyrically if he wants to.)

"Dude, your reviews are so banal that they're hardly worth the trouble. I want to hear you compose music like them. I want you to come up with riffs, I want you to also play guitar and sing like Dan, thank God we have a modern guitarist like him."

I couldn't agree more! There's nothing wrong with the lyrics. Have you ever listened to good old classic blues? You'd probably classify much of those lyrics as "high school poetry". Seems to me you're a bit clueless when it comes to lyric and songwriting.

Another typical Paste "review" to remind me why I don't subscribe to this magazine anymore. I always regret wasting my time reading these things, although I didn't waste much time, considering your review was less than 10 sentences. I need to get off their spam email list.

Oh and the album is great, much better than the Paste rating of "respectable." I suggest reading some blogs by people who actually care if you want a real review.

What a completely useless criticism. The simplicity of Auerbach's lyrics goes along perfectly with the rawness of the music and - as has been mentioned - is embedded in the blues tradition.

I find it hugely disappointing to read such an unfair, worthless and misleading (for the ones that might not be familiar with Black Keys) review in my favorite and trusted music magazine. I hope this loss of quality will not become a norm. Otherwise I see no point in struggling every month to buy Paste in Europe.

Something tells me Michaelangelo Matos likes "Fireflies" by Owl City.

Great album, lousy packaging font. Totally awesome color-changing cd!

"Respectable"? "Respectable"? Is that how you can best sum up this album as? My dear, you need to clean out your ears, replay the record and pay proper attention this time around, because Brothers isn't merely a "respectable" album, it's a GREAT album. And I'm glad that everyone else on here disagrees with you, because unfortunately there are some so-called fans who aren't receptive to change that decry this album simply because it doesn't sound like their older material and is garnering them more mainstream attention. The same complaint for every band ever. Brothers should go down as a classic, because practically every song on it is nothing less than pure aural bliss. I wouldn't be surprised to see it be considered as the best album of 2010, even as one of the best albums of this decade. I'd recommend it to anyone dying to hear soulful and authentic blues rock n' roll from a contemporary band.