Recorded in a single fourteen hour basement session on an 8-track tape machine. Thick, distorted blues riffs and heavy drumming that sounds like the Rust Belt.
It sounds like a blues band playing in your neighbor's garage at 2 AM, and it's the best thing you've ever heard.
A raw, sweat-soaked collision of Rust Belt grit and deep-south blues tradition.
Thickfreakness is the sophomore effort from The Black Keys and their debut on the Fat Possum label, a move that solidified their connection to the North Mississippi hill country blues tradition. Recorded almost entirely in a single marathon session in Patrick Carney's basement, the album is defined by its use of a vintage Tascam 388 8-track recorder. This technical limitation became a stylistic hallmark, resulting in the 'medium fidelity' sound that would define their early career. The tracklist features a mix of original compositions and influential covers, most notably Junior Kimbrough's 'Everywhere I Go,' which serves as a centerpiece for the album's hypnotic, rhythmic approach. Critically, it was seen as a major step forward from their debut, 'The Big Come Up,' earning praise for Auerbach's maturing soulful vocals and the duo's ability to create a massive, room-filling sound with minimal instrumentation. It remains a foundational text of the 2000s garage rock movement.
Put this on for
Headlights cutting through midnight fog on a two lane highwayBeer sweating on a coaster in a bar with no windowsSawdust on the floor and the amp humming before the first chordThat specific grease under your fingernails after fixing the alternatorBasement party where the walls are literally vibratingSunlight hitting the dust motes in a cluttered garage workshopLast cigarette in the pack and the sun is still an hour away
Moments worth waiting for
The opening riff of the title track where the fuzz is so thick it feels like it's clogging the speakers.
The way the drums hit like a physical weight on the Junior Kimbrough cover Everywhere I Go.
The sudden, sharp rhythmic shift and vocal urgency during the bridge of Set You Free.
Sounds like
2003s production with a 2000s soul
Sits beside
White Blood Cells - The White Stripes, Burnside on Burnside - R.L. Burnside, Rubber Factory - The Black Keys, Gallowsbird's Bark - The Fiery Furnaces
Lyrical territory
love_lost, love_romantic, self_examination
03Deviation
Thickfreakness · vs · The Black Keys
Artist
This Album
High Energy
Energy · ↑ +13% more than usual
On this album, high energy sits about 13% more prominent than across the rest of the artist's catalogue.
