Pitchfork

Photo by James Carney

It seems like just yesterday when we were WTF-ing at rumors of a collaboration between the Black Keys, Danger Mouse, and the now late Ike Turner... until Keys drummer Patrick Carney confirmed it in an interview last year. Turner's passing seemingly put a damper on the project, but it turns out the songs the Keys were writing for him gave them the foundation for their own record, the follow-up to 2006's Magic Potion.

The result is the Danger Mouse-produced Attack & Release, the duo's fifth album-- but their first recorded in a proper studio. Alas, no Cee-Lo guest spot, but it does feature contributions from experimental guitarist Marc Ribot and multi-instrumentalist Ralph Carney (Patrick's uncle), both of whom have played in Tom Waits' band. There's also a pretty killer slow-burn duet between guitarist/singer Dan Auerbach and 18-year-old bluegrass/country singer Jessica Lea Mayfield on the closing track.

And while in theory, the thought of a Danger Mouse-produced Black Keys record brings to mind a bunch of electronic beats and sound pastiches slapped on stripped-down garage rawk, it's a credit to Danger Mouse as a producer that he manages mostly to stay out of the way of the jams, except for a few little flourishes here and there.

Nonesuch will release Release on April 1, no foolin', and the Black Keys will head out on tour in the spring in support of the album, starting with their appearance at South by Southwest.

Attack & Release:

01 All You Ever Wanted
02 I Got Mine
03 Strange Times
04 Psychotic Girl
05 Lies
06 Remember When (Side A)
07 Remember When (Side B)
08 Same Old Thing
09 So He Won't Break
10 Oceans & Streams
11 Things Ain't Like They Used to Be

Keyed up:

03-12-16 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-27 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
03-28 Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
03-29 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
03-30 Pomona, CA - Glasshouse
04-01 Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre
04-02 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
04-04 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
04-05 Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
04-06 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
04-09 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
04-10 Omaha, NE - Slowdown
04-11 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
04-12 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
04-13 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
04-15 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
05-12 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
05-13 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
05-15 New York, NY - Terminal 5
05-16 Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore at Theater of Living Arts
05-17 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre