The Arcs: Any different to The Black Keys?

Lets get one thing straight from the start, in the Blues Rock world, you cant get much better than The Black Keys. They redefined the genre when they released ‘Brothers’ and are continuing to release superior Blues Rock albums to anyone else and are still headlining festivals across the globe. Anyone that tells you The Black Keys aren’t the dogs b*llocks when it comes to this genre of music is bullsh*tting.

However, Dan Auerbach has formed another blues rock group named, The Arcs. After listening to the first three tracks they’ve released, I’ve found myself asking if they’re actually much different to Auerbach’s most popular group, The Black Keys. The first track I heard, named ‘Outta my mind‘ did make me initially think of the ‘Turn Blue‘ album by The Keys, with its pacy intro very reminiscent of tracks from said album such as ‘Gotta Get Away‘. This isn’t a particularly negative comment but it does straight away tell any Black Keys fan that Auerbach hasn’t strayed too far away from the Black Keys-esque swagger. (Take that Black Keys fans any way you want.)

As I mentioned, The Arcs have currently released only three tracks online so far, ‘Outta my mind‘, ‘Stay in my corner‘ and ‘Put a flower in your pocket‘. All three providing enough excitement for true blues fans to get charged up about the upcoming album. On the other hand, the more neutral music listeners out there will just think its The Black Keys performing these tracks, not just because of Auerbachs lyrics, but the way the songs carry the same bouncy and brandish rhythm to that of The Keys. You have to think then that The Arcs are always going to be in the shadow of The Black Keys because of what I explained at the start of this post, no one, in this genre is better than The Black Keys.

If The Arcs went down a more heavier rock approach than they have done so far, then this post may have been a bit different, and you never know, the album may prove me completely wrong. But for now, there it is.

Header Photo Credit: Rollingstone.com

The Dead Weather: I Feel Love (Single Review)

Carry on reading if you’ve listened to: 

• The White Stripes
• The Raconteurs
• The Kills
• Queens of the Stone Age

The single came out of nowhere, with Jack White releasing Lazaretto in the middle of last year, I expected White to continue with his solo work until he formed a new group, and not continue work with a band that had already released two studio albums. However, because I loved the Dead Weather before, I had no worries about their new single being boring or tame. I Feel Love, for me, goes far beyond the boundaries of what the Dead Weather can limit themselves too. It has the swagger we all now Jack White possess, and his blues rock alternative background continues to flow right through Alison Mossharts’ lyrics until White again swings back around to his amped guitar rift.

This single is of top quality because this is exactly what you’d expect from The Dead Weather. With other groups, when they keep releasing singles that are of a similar sound, they get criticised and rightly so, however with The Dead Weather, and this track, it epitomises everything great about the band and its perfect for a sneak peak of the new album; they have released a hit that has wet our whistles and allows us to eagerly sit in anticipation for the album , and thats exactly what an early single should do.

This new age supergroup had never previously made it all the way to the top in terms of popularity among us Brits but they were ever present in the underground rock and alternative music across the country when hits such as ‘Cut Like A Buffalo’ and ‘Hustle and Cuss’ were released. Now, to follow on from the previous two albums and those tracks in particular, it’s going to take some genius from Jack White to prove that The Dead Weather are not another band that can’t replicate their earlier noughties success. This is Jack White were talking about though, and this record goes some way to proving how Jack White can come from the shadows to create a record that symbolises and amplifies the importance of new age blues rock in the modern era.

Rating: 8.5/10

Header Photo Credit: gigslutz.co.uk

Black Pistol Fire (No more Artic Monkeys!!!)

I only discovered this Canadian duo recently and initially thought they were just an Artic Monkeys copycat group. However, after listening to their album Hush Or Howl, I have come to the conclusion that they are more bluesy, more modest and more creative within the boundaries of blues rock. Hipster shakes was the first track that had me thinking here we go, just another indie rock duo from the land of the colonials, but after drinking in suffocation blues and Beelzebub from their two previous albums respectively, it turns out that they have so much more to offer than just a few rift chords and a swanky accent.

The Artic Monkeys are idolised in this country and are hailed as a national treasure, and honestly, for the life of me can’t understand why. They would be such a normal and mundane group if Alex Turner was born in any other part of the Country besides Sheffield. The reason why I bring this up is because I believe that Black Pistol Fire are possibly the closest America have been for a long time, in creating a band that can overshadow the takeover of the Artic Monkeys.

I keep having to repeat myself throughout most of these blog posts but they are top class another duo. After The Black Keys, The White Stripes, Royal Blood, Drenge and Slaves, you would have thought that it couldn’t really get much better than that really (I’m not saying Black Pistol Fire are currently better than the artists mentioned previously),but because Black Pistol Fire have shown us that they have the ability to replicate their swagger from their first album back in 2011, and carry it right through to Hush Or Howl, then whose to say they won’t go on to succeed in the near future and become an international success?