Magic Potion [Digipak]

Rating

Album: Magic Potion [Digipak]
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Just Got to Be	More Info...	0:03
2)	Your Touch	More Info...	0:02
3)	You're the One	More Info...	0:03
4)	Just a Little Heat	More Info...	0:03
5)	Give Your Heart Away	More Info...	0:03
6)	Strange Desire	More Info...	0:04
7)	Modern Times	More Info...	0:04
8)	The Flame	More Info...	0:04
9)	Goodbye Babylon	More Info...	0:06
10)	Black Door	More Info...	0:03
11)	Elevator	More Info...	0:03

Performer Notes

Personnel: Dan Auerbach (vocals, guitar); Patrick Carney (drums).
Recording information: The Audio Eagle, Akron, OH.
For their farewell to the Fat Possum label, Black Keys released the six-track EP CHULAHOMA, a tribute to the late Mississippi hill-country bluesman Junior Kimbrough. While previous Keys albums made clear the Akron, Ohio, guitar-drums duo's genuine devotion to the blues, none seemed to come from the soul quite like the brief tribute to their mentor. 2006's MAGIC POTION, however, speaks from a similar place.
While the Keys still happily evoke vintage sounds from the FM dial at nearly every turn, they've scaled things back a bit in favor of a leaner and meaner attack that places the focus squarely on Dan Auerbach's fiercely ringing guitar lines, Patrick Carney's solidly funky breaks, and the interplay between the two, which is capable of ghostly nuance one minute and sledgehammer power the next (see "The Flame"). As a vocalist and guitar player, Auerbach is very much a student of the late Kimbrough, hanging on to vocal and guitar lines to squeeze as much heartache and soul from them as possible. And while one can't expect the Keys to come within knocking distance of Kimbrough's front door (no matter how many times they may have literally been inside his house), they've made a record that, like the factories of their home town, burns rubber.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.84) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "The sound may be retro, but pure blues rock of this caliber is really timeless."

Spin (p.94) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "There's some heavy-hearted wailing, a dance number for AC/DC fans, and at least one track that jazzbos might identify as harmolodic."

Entertainment Weekly (p.72) - "MAGIC POTION finds singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach's vocals and riffs shadowing each other to exquisitely rough-hewn effect." -- Grade: A-

Uncut (p.99) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "The Black Keys have always blended a certain pose with their virile stew of raucous, bass-free blues."

Magnet (p.87) - "MAGIC POTION hears the duo transitioning from blues to blues-based, taking cues from Zeppelin and Hendrix as much as Kimbrough and his Mississippi hill-country brethren."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.96) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "With a ferocious riff assault recalling both Hendrix and Led Zeppelin....[They] tread a similar sonic path to Jack and Meg White."