#thickfreakness

A little overrated, no?

The Black Keys - Thickfreakness (2003)

The Black Key’s sophomore album was recorded in one day in drummer Pat Carney’s basement. Pat and singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach used the advance from the record company to pay their rent, so the 8 track in Pat’s basement had to be it. They dubbed their recording technique, “Medium Fidelity.” Which makes sense as the album sounds about a half-step better than their ramshackle but great debut The Big Come Up. Thickfreakness finds them honing their songwriting and playing. The songs are tighter and certainly more fierce. Everything from the drums to the guitar to the vocals sound heavier. Tracks like the stomping Set You Free and slow buring No Trust are good examples of this. I like returning to this record because this era of The Black Key is my favorite. The scruffy upstarts starting to get it together. Their next record Rubber Factory would find them truly coming into their own and a few albums later playing arenas instead of clubs. But on this record they are just playing their hearts out in the basement so they could make rent.

The Black Keys “Thickfreakness” 2003. Fat Possum Records. I just dropped a huge chunk of change to get Black Keys concert tickets (we almost never go to big arena concerts anymore but we didn’t get a chance to see the Black Keys back when they were still relatively unknown) so I’m spinning their second LP as a reminder why I like them so much and to soothe my guilt over my sticker shock and my ire over the bullshit fees. Thickfreakness, like their first album The Big Come Up, is super-lo fi garage blues that Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney recorded in Carney’s basement on an 8-track recorder (they spent their advance from Fat Possum on rent instead of better equipment). They released three singles from Thickfreakness: “Set You Free” (which was included on the soundtrack for the movie School of Rock), “Hard Row” (one of my favorites) and “Have Love Will Travel” (also one of my favorites, it’s a cover of the song originally by Richard Berry - of “Louie Louie” fame - in 1959). Another great cover on Thickfreakness is their rendition of Junior Kimbrough’s “Everywhere I Go.” Kimbrough’s spirit can be felt through most of The Black Keys early sound so it’s not surprising they pay respect to him here. 

The Black Keys - “See You Free” Sophomore album: “Thickfreakness” - 2003

A little overrated, no?

A little overrated, no?