Rating: 8.5/10

Top Track: ’10 A.M. Automatic’

Hello. It’s good to be back after such a long hiatus. I hope to catch up and put out multiple post in the coming weeks. Apologies about my last post. That was a final for a music class I had this semester and I chose to use this blog as my outlet for that project. I may decide to make that public in the future. Anyways, let’s get on with the post!

This is my 20th post! I can’t believe it. Even though it’s been awhile since I’ve posted, it’s just so crazy to me that I am already at my 20th post. For my tenth post I decided to cover one of the albums I own instead of one of my father’s. I stated that every tenth post I would be covering one of my own personal albums and for this post I decided to cover “Rubber Factory” by The Black Keys. This album was one of the first vinyl albums I bought with my own money a few years ago. I have always loved The Black Keys and I feel that this album is severely underrated when it comes to the band’s albums and 2000s albums in general. It has a great sound, I love the cover art and I think the band really comes into their own on this record. It was Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney’s third album as they were rising from garage band obscurity recording albums in a basement to being commercially recognized. “Rubber Factory” was their follow-up to their second album, “Thickfreakness”, which had done surprisingly well earning them radio plays, bigger venues, even their song ‘Set You Free’ was featured in one of my favorite movies, “School of Rock”. While “Rubber Factory” didn’t feature any break out hits like its predecessor, it received positive reviews from critics and was the band’s first album to chart on the Billboard 200, reaching number 143. The band recorded their first two records in Carney’s basement, but after the release of the second album the building’s landlord sold the building leaving the band searching for a new place to record their third album. They decided to set up a makeshift studio in an old abandoned tire factory in their home town of Akron, Ohio; the building can be seen in the background of the album’s cover. Hence the name “Rubber Factory”. The band rented the entire second floor of the building for $500 per month, and nicknamed their space “Sentient Sound”. The recording space ended up being less than ideal, being too far away from the band’s homes and being too hot during the summer as they were unable to open the windows. If that didn’t cause enough problems, the band used a used mixing console Carney purchased on eBay that kept malfunctioning throughout the entirety of the album’s recording, stretching the sessions nearly five months. The album was recorded on recycled tape provided by their record label, Fat Possum, located in Mississippi, giving it that rough, gravely sound. The album’s artwork was curated by Patrick Carney’s brother, Michael Carney, who was also the band’s creative director featuring images of the east side of Akron. The sleeve of the record itself contains handwritten lyrics of each song on the album.

Since this album didn’t have a stand out hit nor did I have an outright favorite track, my choice for top track was somewhat of a difficult decision. I landed on ’10 A.M. Automatic’ because it’s just a fun song to head bang to, play air guitar with, and just flat out rock out to. Considering the band only consists of two members with Auerbach on guitar and Carney on the drums, it always surprises me how much noise they can make. This track certainly has a lot of noise. The whole album does. I actually picked this song as my top track before I found out that it was the first single to be released off of the album. Do I know my stuff or what? It just has that classic Blues rock feel, with simple lyrics about a guy singing to a girl. The guitar riffs are minimal, but memorable and Auerbach’s guitar breaks in between verses are just cool, man. Carney has never been considered an amazing drummer by any stretch of the imagination, not technically, stylistically, nothing, but the guy is self-taught and has embraced the role fully and I respect the hell out of him for it. He can keep a solid beat and bangs on those drums for all he’s worth, and really, what more could you ask for from a self-taught Blues drummer? This song just does not get old. I could listen to it on repeat for hours and hours and never tire of it. Get it? Tire, rubber factory. Har har. But seriously, how the hell could someone hate this song? I’m not saying you gotta love it like I do, but it is hard not to like. Plus, listening to it on vinyl just puts the track on a whole other level compared to my earbuds.

I also thought about choosing ‘Girl Is on My Mind’ or ‘Till I Get My Way’, which were also singles off of the album. Man, I am on fire! There are just so many great song to choose from on this album. They all have a similar sound and feel, but are each unique in their own way. That’s what I like about The Black Keys, or their early work anyways, they stay true to their sound. They know who they are and don’t try to pretend to be something they’re not. Dan Auerbach grew up listening to classic Blues records from the 60s and 70s and his influences come through on the band’s albums. The songs are simple and straight to the point, yet they can knock you on your ass, if you know what I mean. To me, they are (or were) the prefect ode to classic Blues rock from decades ago. Which is why I never understood the comparisons to The White Stripes. Yeah sure, I mean both groups consisted of a guitarist and a drummer (who needs a bassist anyway?) and had major Blues rock influences, but The White Stripes were more modern and forward-thinking in their sound while The Black Keys kept it laid back and old school. Both of these bands are fantastic and fun to listen to in their own ways, but please stop comparing two things that both drink from the same watering hole, their two different animals. Also, I would like to apologize about that bass joke I made; bassists, y’all are cool cats and I dig ya. Let’s take a moment to talk about Dan Auerbach’s voice. It’s certainly nothing to write home about, but it worked perfectly with what he and Patrick were trying to do. He sings in tune and while he may not have any pipes, as the kids call it, but who needs an amazing voice when you can hammer away on a guitar like that?

The Black Keys have always been one of the bands that I hold close to my heart. From the day I was gifted “El Camino” on CD at the age of 11 to listening to ‘Set You Free’ on repeat in middle school to now, writing about one of their most undervalued and, frankly, forgotten albums. That sound of the grunge-y guitar and Dan’s gruff voice of been ringing through my ears for almost ten years now and it’s been fantastic. Also, I want to give a proper shout out to the group for covering ‘Grown So Ugly’ by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band off of the album “Safe As Milk”, which I covered back in June. Goes to show that everything here on The Vinyl Vault Blog is connected in one way or another. The Black Keys rocked the song up a bit and it’s a great homage to the original as well as the group that originally recorded it. This group has such an admiration for their music heroes and I have such an admiration for them.