The Black Keys

The Black Keys
Chulahoma
(Fat Possum)
Fat Possum is the Mississippi-based label for blues that won't wear a monkey suit, home for the late Junior Kimbrough and, more recently, of Akron, Ohio band the Black Keys. Kimbrough evidently sired 36 children. It's these skinny white boys who revel in his musical legacy. Though there are vocals, the focus is on the riffs and permutations to be derived from them. As hard as it rocks, Chulahoma has a meditative quality. At it most vigourous, you might guess that Lowell George and Little Feat were jamming with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, which never happened but should have. For blues fans, it is heartening to see a young band with a hot rep embrace the primal blues force with such skill and chutzpah.
—Doug Taylor