WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.480 Welcome to the Deep Dive. We have a really custom 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:05.919 Deep Dive queued up for you today. We do, and 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:07.980 it's a fun one. Yeah, specifically tailored for 00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:10.919 you, the listener. Yeah. Our mission today is 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.900 to unpack this really fascinating piece of music 00:00:13.900 --> 00:00:17.140 history and, well... Music production. Right. 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:19.859 We're looking at the Black Keys and their Return 00:00:19.859 --> 00:00:22.219 to Basics with their 2019 album, Let's Rock. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:25.079 Such a great record. It really is. And we've 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:27.739 got a massive stack of notes here, a comprehensive 00:00:27.739 --> 00:00:30.920 Wikipedia article detailing the creation, the 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:33.859 release, and the reception of this modern rock 00:00:33.859 --> 00:00:37.759 staple. And our goal is to just extract the ultimate 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:40.299 insights. Exactly. So whether you are a music 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:44.390 production fanatic, a rock history buff. or you're 00:00:44.390 --> 00:00:46.229 just curious how creative burnout can somehow 00:00:46.229 --> 00:00:49.289 lead to this spectacular return to form, we have 00:00:49.289 --> 00:00:51.609 you covered. And the stakes for this particular 00:00:51.609 --> 00:00:54.130 record, they were incredibly high when you look 00:00:54.130 --> 00:00:56.070 at the landscape of modern rock at that time. 00:00:56.329 --> 00:00:58.049 Absolutely. Because this wasn't just another 00:00:58.049 --> 00:01:01.030 standard album cycle for Dan Auerbach and Patrick 00:01:01.030 --> 00:01:04.049 Carney. This was their ninth studio album, sure. 00:01:04.150 --> 00:01:08.109 But it marked a massive five -year gap since 00:01:08.109 --> 00:01:10.849 their previous release, which was 2014's Turn 00:01:10.849 --> 00:01:13.489 Blue. Right. And in the fast -moving music industry, 00:01:13.709 --> 00:01:15.709 I mean, half a decade off the radar. It might 00:01:15.709 --> 00:01:18.030 as well be a lifetime. Five years is an eternity 00:01:18.030 --> 00:01:21.629 for a... band that had been essentially dominating 00:01:21.629 --> 00:01:23.950 the airwaves up to that point. Which tells us 00:01:23.950 --> 00:01:25.989 this isn't just a story about technical specs 00:01:25.989 --> 00:01:28.569 in a studio session. No. Looking at the larger 00:01:28.569 --> 00:01:32.150 narrative arc, this entire era is a masterclass 00:01:32.150 --> 00:01:35.469 in recognizing creative burnout. It serves as 00:01:35.469 --> 00:01:39.010 a study on the undeniable value of walking away 00:01:39.010 --> 00:01:41.150 from something when it stops feeling right. Yeah. 00:01:41.170 --> 00:01:43.890 And the absolute magnetism of eventually going 00:01:43.890 --> 00:01:46.109 back to your foundational roots. Okay, let's 00:01:46.109 --> 00:01:48.010 unpack this. Yeah. Because to understand the 00:01:48.010 --> 00:01:49.750 triumphant return, we really have to look at 00:01:49.750 --> 00:01:51.469 the dark cloud that was hanging over them right 00:01:51.469 --> 00:01:53.269 before they walked away. Right. The turn blue 00:01:53.269 --> 00:01:58.370 era. Exactly. Let's rewind to 2014. That record 00:01:58.370 --> 00:02:00.670 was their fourth time collaborating with producer 00:02:00.670 --> 00:02:04.349 Danger Mouse. And the sound is dripping with 00:02:04.349 --> 00:02:06.769 this heavy psychedelic rock and soul influence. 00:02:06.829 --> 00:02:09.289 Lots of layers. Lots of layers. But there is 00:02:09.289 --> 00:02:12.289 this distinct lingering melancholy to the whole 00:02:12.289 --> 00:02:14.430 project. Well, the emotional weight of that album 00:02:14.430 --> 00:02:16.919 wasn't fabricated. During those recording sessions, 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:19.120 Dan Auerbach was going through a very public 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.599 divorce. Yeah, which is tough. Incredibly tough. 00:02:21.860 --> 00:02:25.719 And that heavy introspective reality naturally 00:02:25.719 --> 00:02:28.520 seeped into the music. It was a stark departure 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:31.439 from the, you know, the raucous, gritty garage 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:34.439 rock party that defined their earlier work. Right. 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:36.319 So you have that deep emotional exhaustion and 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:38.039 then you compound it with the physical grind 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:41.199 of the music industry. They released Turn Blue 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:44.500 in May 2014 and immediately embarked on a massive 00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:46.979 world tour. They were running on fumes from day 00:02:46.979 --> 00:02:49.340 one. Literally day one. And things really come 00:02:49.340 --> 00:02:51.740 to a head in January 2015. So they're down in 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:54.039 St. Bartholomew, ostensibly taking a breather, 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:57.180 and Patrick Carney gets hit by a rogue wave in 00:02:57.180 --> 00:02:59.900 the ocean. A rogue wave, yeah. And we hear about 00:02:59.900 --> 00:03:02.300 musicians getting injured all the time. But for 00:03:02.300 --> 00:03:05.479 a professional drummer, the reports of a broken 00:03:05.479 --> 00:03:09.099 and dislocated shoulder. I mean, that sounds 00:03:09.099 --> 00:03:11.800 like a potential career ender. How severe was 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:14.270 this situation behind the scenes? Well, the source 00:03:14.270 --> 00:03:16.689 material notes it was far more serious than Carney 00:03:16.689 --> 00:03:19.169 wanted to admit to the public or the press at 00:03:19.169 --> 00:03:22.330 the time. A shoulder injury for a drummer compromises 00:03:22.330 --> 00:03:24.389 the entire mechanical foundation of how they 00:03:24.389 --> 00:03:26.250 play. Right. You can't just power through that. 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:29.250 You can't. It required a significant amount of 00:03:29.250 --> 00:03:32.389 time to properly heal, which forced the band 00:03:32.389 --> 00:03:34.569 to start canceling tour dates. Which is a nightmare. 00:03:34.770 --> 00:03:37.270 A total nightmare. It creates a massive logistical 00:03:37.270 --> 00:03:40.530 and financial headache, obviously. But on a psychological 00:03:40.530 --> 00:03:43.270 level, it physically stopped the runaway. way 00:03:43.270 --> 00:03:44.909 train they had been forcing themselves to keep 00:03:44.909 --> 00:03:47.430 driving. So they finally managed to conclude 00:03:47.430 --> 00:03:50.330 the remaining tour dates in August 2015. This 00:03:50.330 --> 00:03:52.370 was at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival 00:03:52.370 --> 00:03:54.550 in San Francisco. Right. And that performance 00:03:54.550 --> 00:03:56.569 is where the extended hiatus officially begins. 00:03:57.370 --> 00:04:00.310 But Carney apparently had this deeply ominous 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:02.870 feeling about wrapping up the tour in that specific 00:04:02.870 --> 00:04:06.900 city. Yeah, he pointed out a very specific, slightly 00:04:06.900 --> 00:04:10.379 eerie piece of rock and roll trivia. Oh, yeah. 00:04:10.500 --> 00:04:13.719 Yeah, the Sex Pistols, the band, the Beatles, 00:04:13.860 --> 00:04:16.600 all of those legendary groups played their final 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:20.240 live concerts in San Francisco. Oh, wow. They 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:22.079 didn't even put that together. Right. So when 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.680 the Black Keys walked off that stage, Carney 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:27.399 was genuinely worried about the band's future. 00:04:28.189 --> 00:04:30.329 He was left wondering if they had just succumbed 00:04:30.329 --> 00:04:32.649 to the San Francisco curse. But it was actually 00:04:32.649 --> 00:04:35.209 Dan Auerbach who officially pulled the plug and 00:04:35.209 --> 00:04:37.250 made the call to take a break. Yeah, he was the 00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:39.790 one who said stop. And Carney was reportedly 00:04:39.790 --> 00:04:42.730 pretty frustrated by how long that break ended 00:04:42.730 --> 00:04:45.290 up being. It was three solid years before they 00:04:45.290 --> 00:04:48.069 got back in the studio together. Yeah. But he 00:04:48.069 --> 00:04:50.170 eventually admitted it was the necessary call. 00:04:50.329 --> 00:04:52.519 They were fundamentally burned out. The physical 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:54.459 exhaustion was only half the problem, though. 00:04:54.540 --> 00:04:56.939 The core issue was a fundamental frustration 00:04:56.939 --> 00:04:59.459 with their daily lives as working musicians. 00:04:59.699 --> 00:05:02.639 Both Auerbach and Carney have consistently stated 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:05.100 that their absolute favorite part of their career 00:05:05.100 --> 00:05:07.720 is the songwriting process. Being in the studio. 00:05:08.060 --> 00:05:11.180 Exactly. The creation phase is what drives them. 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:14.839 But that joy had been completely eclipsed by 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:17.980 their relentless contractual touring commitments. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:20.139 There's actually a quote from Auerbach in the 00:05:20.139 --> 00:05:22.819 sources that perfectly captures this feeling 00:05:22.819 --> 00:05:25.399 of being trapped by your own success. Oh, what 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:28.620 did he say? He says. We like creating the songs. 00:05:28.819 --> 00:05:30.920 And I know you can't have your cake and eat it, 00:05:30.939 --> 00:05:33.180 too. We've got to go perform them. But it's not 00:05:33.180 --> 00:05:36.220 a good feeling to work so hard to do the thing 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:38.360 you love and just not ever be able to get to 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:41.500 create. It can be maddening. Maddening. Yeah, 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:43.100 it sounds like the touring monster essentially 00:05:43.100 --> 00:05:45.879 ate their creative spark. I think this connects 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:49.000 directly to you, the listener, regardless of 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:51.430 what you do for a living. Sometimes stepping 00:05:51.430 --> 00:05:53.829 away from the thing you love is the only viable 00:05:53.829 --> 00:05:55.870 way to save your passion for it. That's so true. 00:05:56.089 --> 00:05:58.310 Auerbach and Carney had to protect their creative 00:05:58.310 --> 00:06:01.149 core, even if it meant risking their immense 00:06:01.149 --> 00:06:03.829 momentum and industry standing to do it. And 00:06:03.829 --> 00:06:06.610 their version of stepping away is wildly different 00:06:06.610 --> 00:06:09.209 from how most people would define taking a break. 00:06:09.370 --> 00:06:12.199 Right. They didn't just sit on a beach. No. They 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:14.379 take a hiatus from the Black Keys and proceed 00:06:14.379 --> 00:06:16.639 to produce dozens of albums for other people. 00:06:16.819 --> 00:06:19.819 It's crazy. Auerbach basically locks himself 00:06:19.819 --> 00:06:22.300 in his Easy Eye sound studio down in Nashville. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:26.000 He forms a whole new band, The Arcs, and puts 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:29.139 up their debut album, Yours Dreamily, in September 00:06:29.139 --> 00:06:32.100 2015. Great record. Then he drops his second 00:06:32.100 --> 00:06:36.000 solo album, Waiting on a Song, in 2017. He's 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.980 producing older Americana artists, working with 00:06:38.980 --> 00:06:41.639 absolute legends like John Prine and Dwayne Eddy. 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:44.180 Just nonstop producing. He literally produced 00:06:44.180 --> 00:06:47.259 more than a dozen albums while on a break, admitting 00:06:47.259 --> 00:06:49.220 he wasn't thinking about the Black Keys at all. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:52.319 His focus shifted entirely to the craft of producing, 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:54.740 and Carney's trajectory during this period is 00:06:54.740 --> 00:06:56.759 equally staggering. Right. What was he up to? 00:06:56.860 --> 00:07:00.199 He is producing and recording over a dozen albums 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:02.480 for artists like Calvin Johnson, Tennis, and 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:05.120 Dams of the West. But the most significant part 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:07.360 of Carney's hiatus is his collaboration with 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:11.040 Michelle Branch. Ah, yes. In 2017, he co -writes, 00:07:11.139 --> 00:07:13.839 produces, and plays drums on her record Hopeless 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.579 Romantic. Which was a big deal. a massive industry 00:07:16.579 --> 00:07:18.779 moment because it was her first studio album 00:07:18.779 --> 00:07:22.259 in 14 years and during that production process 00:07:22.259 --> 00:07:24.160 they started a relationship they end up having 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:26.699 a son together and they get married in april 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:30.699 2019. wow So this hiatus provided the necessary 00:07:30.699 --> 00:07:33.439 space for both of them to literally build new 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:36.319 lives. They reset entirely. They are creatively 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:38.759 fulfilled, personally grounded and completely 00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:41.779 free from the obligations of an arena touring 00:07:41.779 --> 00:07:44.339 schedule. Yeah. So how do we get from that point 00:07:44.339 --> 00:07:47.920 of total separation back to the Black Keys? Well, 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:49.879 the Catalyst was actually a hometown legend. 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:52.920 Auerbach was at his Easy Eye Sound studio collaborating 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:55.240 with Joe Walsh, another iconic guitar player. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:57.040 And they start talking about Glenn Schwartz. 00:07:57.100 --> 00:07:59.290 They ended up. jamming with Glenn Schwartz, who 00:07:59.290 --> 00:08:01.089 was the original guitarist for the James Gang, 00:08:01.269 --> 00:08:03.129 right there in the studio. Here's where it gets 00:08:03.129 --> 00:08:05.810 really interesting. Because Auerbach records 00:08:05.810 --> 00:08:08.889 about 90 minutes of his childhood idol playing 00:08:08.889 --> 00:08:11.709 guitar during this session. Yep. It wasn't a 00:08:11.709 --> 00:08:14.029 record executive demanding a new album that brought 00:08:14.029 --> 00:08:17.110 them back together. It was this raw 90 -minute 00:08:17.110 --> 00:08:20.180 tape. That tape served as a time machine. Schwartz 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:22.759 was a massive inspiration for both Auerbach and 00:08:22.759 --> 00:08:25.259 Carney when they were young, playing a huge role 00:08:25.259 --> 00:08:27.600 in why they pursued futures in rock music to 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:30.720 begin with. Right. Hearing that session brought 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:32.799 Auerbach right back to his youth in Cleveland, 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:35.639 attending Schwartz's live shows and then going 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.100 home to emulate those exact riffs while jamming 00:08:39.100 --> 00:08:41.480 in a basement with Carney. Auerbach called it 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:44.509 the exact little nudge he needed. Right after 00:08:44.509 --> 00:08:47.450 that session, he picks up the phone, calls his 00:08:47.450 --> 00:08:50.009 old bandmate, and they finally put a reunion 00:08:50.009 --> 00:08:52.970 on the books. Just like that. September 5, 2018. 00:08:53.590 --> 00:08:57.190 10 a .m. Easy Eye Sound in Nashville. That is 00:08:57.190 --> 00:09:00.009 the exact moment they ended the three -year hiatus. 00:09:00.230 --> 00:09:02.610 And the chief recording engineer there, M. Alan 00:09:02.610 --> 00:09:04.990 Parker, was watching this unfold. What did he 00:09:04.990 --> 00:09:07.450 say? He observed that the first time Carney came 00:09:07.450 --> 00:09:09.549 into the studio, they hadn't seen each other 00:09:09.549 --> 00:09:10.990 in a while, but there was instant chemistry. 00:09:11.110 --> 00:09:13.850 They became the Black Keys instantly. That's 00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:15.830 awesome. Within minutes, they had their instruments 00:09:15.830 --> 00:09:18.750 in hand, playing like zero time had passed. What's 00:09:18.750 --> 00:09:21.250 crucial to understand about this reunion is their 00:09:21.250 --> 00:09:24.500 approach to the recording process itself. After 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:27.039 spending years producing meticulously crafted, 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:30.519 highly structured albums for other artists, they 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:32.840 decided to completely strip away the guardrails 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:35.600 for their own project. Totally. They walked into 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:38.759 Easy Eye Sound with zero pre -written songs. 00:09:39.179 --> 00:09:42.000 Nothing was prepared in advance. Auerbach didn't 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:44.480 want to overthink a single note. He wanted the 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:48.190 environment to be completely spontaneous. Yeah, 00:09:48.230 --> 00:09:50.570 the sources detail how he would literally build 00:09:50.570 --> 00:09:53.009 the tracks right there on the floor. He'd make 00:09:53.009 --> 00:09:55.590 up the whole structure on the fly. Intro, verse, 00:09:55.789 --> 00:09:58.029 chorus, turnaround, verse, chorus, bridge, turnaround, 00:09:58.309 --> 00:10:00.490 outro. Just calling it out. Just calling out 00:10:00.490 --> 00:10:02.690 the arrangement live in the room. He would ad 00:10:02.690 --> 00:10:04.809 -lib the vocal melodies and simply replace them 00:10:04.809 --> 00:10:07.769 with actual lyrics later. He relied completely 00:10:07.769 --> 00:10:10.269 on Carney's intuition, stating that Carney just 00:10:10.269 --> 00:10:12.809 has a knack for knowing exactly what to do. It 00:10:12.809 --> 00:10:15.090 highlights a fascinating creative symbiosis. 00:10:15.409 --> 00:10:17.850 They adopted a ruthless editing process too. 00:10:17.909 --> 00:10:19.730 They would work on a specific idea for about 00:10:19.730 --> 00:10:21.730 an hour. If it was clicking, they chased it. 00:10:21.870 --> 00:10:24.710 And if not? If not, they dropped it immediately 00:10:24.710 --> 00:10:28.190 and moved to the next concept. This purely spontaneous 00:10:28.190 --> 00:10:31.789 approach led to a very strict, albeit accidental, 00:10:32.210 --> 00:10:35.389 limitation. Halfway through the sessions, they 00:10:35.389 --> 00:10:37.870 stopped and realized they hadn't used a single 00:10:37.870 --> 00:10:40.509 keyboard on any of the tracks. Not one keyboard. 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.240 Yeah. Which is a massive departure when you consider 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:45.320 their previous work with Danger Mouse was heavily 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:47.679 layered with synths and atmospheric keys. Completely 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:50.000 different sound. But once they noticed the absence, 00:10:50.259 --> 00:10:52.679 they made a conscious decision to lock it in. 00:10:53.259 --> 00:10:56.100 Carney called the album an homage to electric 00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:59.889 guitar. Just guitar, drums, and vocals. Although 00:10:59.889 --> 00:11:01.629 there is one exception. Right. There was one 00:11:01.629 --> 00:11:03.990 tiny exception for the production nerds out there. 00:11:04.110 --> 00:11:06.750 The only synthesized sound on the entire album 00:11:06.750 --> 00:11:09.610 is a string pad on the song Walk Across the Water. 00:11:09.750 --> 00:11:11.950 But it didn't come from a keyboard. No, it came 00:11:11.950 --> 00:11:14.470 from an MTI auto orchestra, which is this incredibly 00:11:14.470 --> 00:11:17.269 niche, vintage, analog drum machine from the 00:11:17.269 --> 00:11:20.309 70s that plays these cheesy backing tracks. It's 00:11:20.309 --> 00:11:22.809 basically a rhythm box. Exactly. Aside from that 00:11:22.809 --> 00:11:25.440 single layer. The no keyboard rule held firm. 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:28.120 It was just the two of them, alongside two backing 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:31.600 vocalists, Lisa Hans and Ashley Wilcoxon. They 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:34.440 co -produced the entire project themselves. And 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:36.460 when you look at the sheer output generated by 00:11:36.460 --> 00:11:39.299 this limitation, it's staggering. Oh, yeah. After 00:11:39.299 --> 00:11:41.840 three years apart, in the very first 30 minutes 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:44.360 of being in the same room, they wrote their first 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:47.299 musical idea, which became the track. breaking 00:11:47.299 --> 00:11:50.220 down. Two complete songs written on day one alone. 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:53.120 Crazy. By the end of week one, they had 15 or 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:56.080 16 workable ideas. By the time they wrapped up 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.000 the sessions, which Carney estimated was only 00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:59.659 about three and a half to four weeks of total 00:11:59.659 --> 00:12:02.600 studio time, spread out over a few months. They 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:05.460 had generated 27 unique ideas and completely 00:12:05.460 --> 00:12:07.919 finished 13 of them. Removing the pressure and 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:10.179 reconnecting with the simple joy of playing together 00:12:10.179 --> 00:12:12.399 completely opened the floodgates. It really did. 00:12:12.620 --> 00:12:15.600 But as joyous as that recording process was, 00:12:15.860 --> 00:12:18.139 the The inspiration for the album's title introduces 00:12:18.139 --> 00:12:21.179 a totally different, surprisingly dark tone to 00:12:21.179 --> 00:12:22.899 the project. We have to talk about where the 00:12:22.899 --> 00:12:25.600 name Let's Rock actually came from, because the 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.940 origin is incredibly macabre. It stems from a 00:12:28.940 --> 00:12:31.460 local news story that Auerbach happened to read 00:12:31.460 --> 00:12:35.980 in the studio. Yeah. On November 1st, 2018, the 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:38.340 state of Tennessee executed a convicted murderer 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:41.460 named Edmund Zagorski via the electric chair. 00:12:41.929 --> 00:12:44.610 It was a highly publicized event locally because 00:12:44.610 --> 00:12:46.750 it was the first time Tennessee had used the 00:12:46.750 --> 00:12:49.429 electric chair in 11 years. Right. Auerbach was 00:12:49.429 --> 00:12:51.570 reading about this in a physical copy of the 00:12:51.570 --> 00:12:53.929 Tennessean, a local paper that someone had just 00:12:53.929 --> 00:12:55.950 left sitting around the studio control room. 00:12:56.090 --> 00:12:58.750 The newspaper story detailed Zagorski's final 00:12:58.750 --> 00:13:01.409 moments. When the prison guard asked him if he 00:13:01.409 --> 00:13:04.129 had any last words before they proceeded, Zagorski 00:13:04.129 --> 00:13:06.840 just looked up and said, Let's rock. Months later, 00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:08.940 when the band needed an album title, Auerbach 00:13:08.940 --> 00:13:10.779 couldn't get those two words out of his head. 00:13:10.899 --> 00:13:12.879 He just couldn't shake it. He found the phrase 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:15.220 to be deeply absurd in that context, but also 00:13:15.220 --> 00:13:17.100 strangely fitting for their current situation. 00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:20.480 They had just spent weeks making this raw, back 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:23.779 -to -basics electric guitar record. To Auerbach, 00:13:24.059 --> 00:13:26.200 stumbling across that phrase felt like a bizarre 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:29.679 gift from the universe. He also fully embraced 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:32.960 the massive layer of irony attached to it. He 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:35.139 knew exactly what the general public would assume 00:13:35.139 --> 00:13:37.759 when they saw an album by a famous rock band 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:41.440 titled Let's Rock. Oh, of course. He wanted to 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:44.519 actively mislead people. He stated explicitly 00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:47.519 that 99 % of people are going to think the album 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:50.220 is about rock and roll culture, which is the 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:52.720 thing they actually like least. Right. He said, 00:13:52.740 --> 00:13:54.899 we're not rock and roll guys. We fucking hate 00:13:54.899 --> 00:13:57.480 rock and roll guys. We always have. He went on 00:13:57.480 --> 00:13:59.740 to explain that the idea of pyrotechnics on stage 00:13:59.740 --> 00:14:02.779 and laser shows is just completely goofy to them. 00:14:02.860 --> 00:14:05.820 They use the most cliche phrase in the entire 00:14:05.820 --> 00:14:08.860 genre to name a record that is made specifically 00:14:08.860 --> 00:14:12.220 to reject the bloated theatrical cliches of modern 00:14:12.220 --> 00:14:14.600 rock music. It is the ultimate anti -gimmick 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:16.600 statement. Exactly. They just wanted to play 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:18.899 their instruments in a room. And that anti -gimmick 00:14:18.899 --> 00:14:21.179 philosophy didn't just stop at the title. It 00:14:21.179 --> 00:14:23.759 extended straight into how they handled the business 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:26.700 side of releasing the album. Yeah, they completely 00:14:26.700 --> 00:14:30.360 refused to play the modern industry game. They 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:33.080 dropped the lead single, Lohi, in March 2019, 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.980 followed by the official album announcement in 00:14:35.980 --> 00:14:38.840 April. But when it came to actually selling the 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:41.340 record, they drew a hard line in the sand regarding 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:44.019 bundling. Which was huge at the time. I want 00:14:44.019 --> 00:14:46.220 to push on this for a second because in 2019, 00:14:46.419 --> 00:14:49.220 if you weren't bundling merchandise or concert 00:14:49.220 --> 00:14:51.759 tickets with your album sales, you were essentially 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:54.460 handing your chart position over to an artist 00:14:54.460 --> 00:14:57.460 who was. Why were they so confident in taking 00:14:57.460 --> 00:14:59.799 that risk? Because their definition of success 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:01.899 had fundamentally shifted during the hiatus. 00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:05.220 Patrick Carney was highly vocal about this practice. 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:08.399 He openly called bundling a dimmock that exists 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:11.539 solely as a way to game the charts. His perspective 00:15:11.539 --> 00:15:14.039 was incredibly blunt. He said people are either 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:15.620 going to buy the record because they want to 00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:18.600 hear it or they aren't. He stated the only metric 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:20.700 he was genuinely concerned with was whether people 00:15:20.700 --> 00:15:23.519 actually enjoyed the music. That raises an interesting 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:25.659 question for you listening right now. regarding 00:15:25.659 --> 00:15:28.799 authenticity in your own field. How often do 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.600 we rely on the equivalent of gimmicks to prove 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:33.919 our success to the outside world? All the time. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:36.700 We polish the vanity metrics. We bundle our achievements 00:15:36.700 --> 00:15:39.000 to make them look bigger than they are. The Black 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:41.120 Keys had the confidence to strip all of that 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:44.309 away and let the raw work defend itself. And 00:15:44.309 --> 00:15:46.610 the raw work proved to be incredibly resilient. 00:15:47.070 --> 00:15:49.730 Lo -Hi became an absolute monster of a single, 00:15:49.929 --> 00:15:52.490 making Billboard history in the process. It really 00:15:52.490 --> 00:15:55.549 did. It became the first song ever to simultaneously 00:15:55.549 --> 00:15:59.070 top four different Billboard rock charts. Mainstream 00:15:59.070 --> 00:16:02.190 rock, adult alternative songs, rock airplay, 00:16:02.350 --> 00:16:05.090 and alternative songs. Number one on all four 00:16:05.090 --> 00:16:07.509 formats at the exact same time. And when the 00:16:07.509 --> 00:16:10.950 full album dropped on June 28, 2019, it debuted 00:16:10.950 --> 00:16:14.139 at number four on the U .S. Billboard 200. It 00:16:14.139 --> 00:16:17.399 moved 52 ,000 album -equivalent units in its 00:16:17.399 --> 00:16:19.340 first week. Which is the metric the industry 00:16:19.340 --> 00:16:21.899 uses to combine physical album sales with digital 00:16:21.899 --> 00:16:24.159 streaming numbers to give a true picture of a 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.379 project's popularity in the modern era? Right. 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:28.580 It hit the top 10 in over a dozen countries. 00:16:29.580 --> 00:16:32.240 Commercially, it was a massive validation of 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:34.960 their back -to -basics approach. But critically, 00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:37.330 it was a bit more of a mixed bag. What's fascinating 00:16:37.330 --> 00:16:40.289 here is analyzing that critical divide. The album 00:16:40.289 --> 00:16:43.909 sits at a 73 out of 100 on Metacritic. The reviews 00:16:43.909 --> 00:16:46.370 essentially split into two distinct camps based 00:16:46.370 --> 00:16:48.950 entirely on what the reviewer expected a Black 00:16:48.950 --> 00:16:51.830 Keys album to sound like in 2019. Okay, let's 00:16:51.830 --> 00:16:53.809 look at the positive side first. You have legacy 00:16:53.809 --> 00:16:56.149 publications jumping right on board. What was 00:16:56.149 --> 00:16:58.230 the consensus from the critics who actually bought 00:16:58.230 --> 00:17:00.559 into this stripped -down approach? Critics who 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:03.000 appreciated the raw energy absolutely loved it. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:05.880 David Frick at Rolling Stone praised the band's 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:08.599 heightened purism. He compared it directly to 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:12.019 their gritty 2003 garage rock album Thick Freakness, 00:17:12.180 --> 00:17:14.980 just recorded in much higher fidelity. The Times 00:17:14.980 --> 00:17:17.000 and Pace magazine echoed that sentiment, calling 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:19.259 it a feel -good, back -to -basics summer barbecue 00:17:19.259 --> 00:17:21.940 record. The Independent noted that while it might 00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:24.220 be a genre pastiche, meaning it lovingly imitates 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:26.839 and collages past rock styles rather than inventing 00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:30.130 a new one, it is executed with incredible fiendishly 00:17:30.130 --> 00:17:32.369 catchy skill. But then you have the critiques 00:17:32.369 --> 00:17:34.309 from the other side of the aisle. These are the 00:17:34.309 --> 00:17:36.390 writers who clearly missed the ambition of the 00:17:36.390 --> 00:17:40.089 Danger Mouse era. Precisely. Victoria Segal at 00:17:40.089 --> 00:17:42.849 Mojo wrote that while the songs are tightly constructed, 00:17:43.150 --> 00:17:45.849 it feels as if the emotional wiring has been 00:17:45.849 --> 00:17:49.069 botched. Ouch. Yeah. She felt there was an over 00:17:49.069 --> 00:17:52.029 -familiarity, almost a lethargy to the lyricism 00:17:52.029 --> 00:17:54.710 compared to the heavy introspection of Turn Blue. 00:17:55.170 --> 00:17:58.559 Ryan Daly at NME was even harsher. What did they 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:01.119 say? She called the album undercooked with a 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:03.640 distinct lack of impact, stating it did not sound 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:05.900 like two veteran musicians reclaiming their best 00:18:05.900 --> 00:18:09.140 years. Emotional wiring botched is a tough critique 00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:11.700 to swallow. But then you have Evan Rytlowski, 00:18:11.819 --> 00:18:14.079 a pitchfork, who bridges the gap between those 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:16.779 two polarizing opinions perfectly. He really 00:18:16.779 --> 00:18:19.420 did. He pointed out that intentionally removing 00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:22.599 Danger Mouse's studio flourishes simply left 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:25.779 more room for pure guitar riffs. He asked the 00:18:25.779 --> 00:18:29.440 ultimate question. Was the album ambitious? No. 00:18:29.819 --> 00:18:33.640 But, as he wrote, effective. Swish. That synthesis 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:37.400 captures the entire project perfectly. Lack was 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:40.220 never meant to be a grand experimental opus. 00:18:40.220 --> 00:18:43.579 It was designed to be exactly what it is. Two 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:46.140 guys in a room, remembering why they love playing 00:18:46.140 --> 00:18:49.019 music together. So what does this all mean? If 00:18:49.019 --> 00:18:53.160 we zoom out, we just traced an incredible, turbulent 00:18:53.160 --> 00:19:14.869 journey. Yeah. Full circle. Exactly. They reunite 00:19:14.869 --> 00:19:17.289 on a random Tuesday at 10 a .m., completely throw 00:19:17.289 --> 00:19:19.329 out the keyboards, fire the outside producers, 00:19:19.630 --> 00:19:22.730 write 27 spontaneous ideas in a month, and name 00:19:22.730 --> 00:19:24.910 the resulting album after the dark final words 00:19:24.910 --> 00:19:26.730 of a guy in the electric chair. Entirely because 00:19:26.730 --> 00:19:28.569 they find the traditional rock and roll persona 00:19:28.569 --> 00:19:31.730 totally goofy. Right. It is a remarkable sequence 00:19:31.730 --> 00:19:33.529 of events that actually leaves you with something 00:19:33.529 --> 00:19:35.930 profound to consider, especially when looking 00:19:35.930 --> 00:19:38.319 at the modern landscape. We just watched a band 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.920 hit number one by completely rejecting the modern 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:45.160 playbook. Yes. As AI, algorithmic precision and 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:47.339 digital perfection become the standard across 00:19:47.339 --> 00:19:50.359 almost every single industry, it makes you wonder, 00:19:50.460 --> 00:19:55.480 will human error, the raw, unpolished, zero guardrails 00:19:55.480 --> 00:19:58.180 approach we saw in the creation of Let's Rock, 00:19:58.359 --> 00:20:00.940 actually become the ultimate premium commodity 00:20:00.940 --> 00:20:03.660 of the future? That's a great point. When everything 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:06.099 can be produced perfectly, maybe the most valuable 00:20:06.099 --> 00:20:08.380 thing you can offer is the authentic sound of 00:20:08.380 --> 00:20:10.839 two people just figuring it out in a room. Sometimes 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:12.920 the imperfections are the exact thing that makes 00:20:12.920 --> 00:20:15.779 the art permanent. We want to thank you so much 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:18.059 for joining us on this custom deep dive. We hope 00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:20.599 you walk away with a fresh appreciation for the 00:20:20.599 --> 00:20:23.099 art of pairing things back and trusting your 00:20:23.099 --> 00:20:25.440 own raw instincts. Absolutely. Keep questioning, 00:20:25.619 --> 00:20:27.920 keep learning, and do yourself a favor. Go spin. 00:20:28.099 --> 00:20:30.799 Let's rock with a totally new perspective. We'll 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:31.779 catch you on the next deep dive.