The Black Keys, Delta Kream | Album Review 💿

Grammy-winning rock collective The Black Keys introduce the blues to a new audience on their fine, Mississippi blues cover album, Delta Kream.

Sometimes, it can be tough to be excited about a ‘covers album.’  Yes, there’s a market for it, but if songs are too familiar, the listener will ultimately compare them to the original, right? Right!  In the case of 🏆 Grammy-winning rock collective 🎙 The Black Keys (🎙 Dan Auerbach and 🎙 Patrick Carney), they go the covers route, but return to their roots: the blues.  What’s positive about their latest album, 💿 Delta Kream is that unless you’re a true blues connoisseur/expert, there’s a chance you won’t be extremely familiar with the classics they cover, honoring their blues heroes.  The result is a new-old album of sorts – one that ends up being both enjoyable and ultimately, quite successful.  Worth noting, Auerbach and Carney recorded Delta Kream live in the studio with friends 🎙 Eric Deaton (electric bass) and 🎙 Kenny Brown (electric guitar).

“Crawling Kingsnake”

✅ 🎵 “Crawling Kingsnake,” written by 🎼✍ John Lee Hooker and 🎼✍ Bernard Besman, is an epic way to commence Delta Kream.  The record features killer guitar riffs, soloing, and a prominent, anchoring bassline.  Furthermore, Patrick Carney provides superb drumming, as always.  As for Dan Auerbach, he delivers sensational vocals which are nuanced, expressive and perfectly tailored to the blues/blues-rock style.  While “Crawling Kingsnake” runs long in its main, extended form, a shorter, radio-friendly edit concludes Delta Kream.

✅ 🎵 “Louise,” written by 🎼✍ Fred McDowell, has a tough act to follow but ends up being another great moment for The Black Keys.  Like the opener, the sound is quite sweet.  This is vintage blues, yet it sounds quite refreshing in 2021.  More accessible where length is concerned, it runs four-and-half-minutes as opposed to north of six.  ✅ 🎵 “Poor Boy a Long Way From Home,” written by 🎼✍ Robert Lee Burnside, keeps Delta Kream on the ‘up and up.’ An exceptional groove gets the feet tapping and the head nodding.  The guitar is gritty, shining over awesome vamping.  The vamp is based around tonic (for you music theory nerds 😉), while the bass line highlights the fifth scale degree (dominant), at times.  Here, we get more awesome guitar shedding while Auerbach continues to shine vocally.  

“Stay All Night” 

“Stay all night / Stay a little longer / Pull off your clothes / And throw ‘em in the corner.”  The 🎼✍ Junior Kimbrough (David Kimbrough, Jr.) classic ✅ 🎵 “Stay All Night” marks a personal favorite from Delta Kream.  I love the intro, which feels free as the record establishes its identity.  I love the harmonic progression, particularly the notes anchored by the bass. This marks one of Dan Auerbach’s best performances.  He’s poised yet remains expressive and fully invested.  Once more, I appreciate and totally heart the pacing, use of vamping, and patient, unhurried approach.  The cherry on top: more bluesy, ear catching guitar soloing.

Following the lengthier “Stay All Night,” the next two songs keep the duration under four minutes – much more accessible.  On ✅ 🎵 “Going Down South,” another Burnside record, Auerbach spoils us with his falsetto.  The listener continues to be wowed by the vintage, bluesy vibes as well as the incredible musicianship on display.  One specific selling point here is the rising intensity towards the end.  Things get louder, and the soloing grows more agile and rhythmic.  Follow-up 🎵 “Coal Black Mattie,” penned by 🎼✍ Ranie Burnette, offers up another ultra-infectious groove, with Patrick compelling with his drumming.  The guitars are ripe, helping to perfectly recreate and preserve the blues sounds of Mississippi.  Like the majority of the album, the emphasis continues to be on the sound and overall aesthetic.

“Do the Romp”

Another Junior Kimbrough joint, ✅ 🎵 “Do the Romp,” marks one of the more fun numbers on Delta Kream.  The vocals by Auerbach are assertive but also incredibly playful.  As you listen, you definitely want to “Do the romp” as Dan implores.  Auerbach grows grittier as the song progresses, while the tone of the guitar is utterly sublime during the electrifying soloing. Follow-up 🎵 “Sad Days, Lonely Nights” (Kimbrough again) marks another consistent, well-rounded showing from The Black Keys.  That said, this six-minute joint isn’t quite as memorable in my eyes.  Perhaps the duration starts to wear a bit.  Similarly, 🎵 “Walk With Me” (Kimbrough) is consistent, sporting awesome groove, riffs, and vocals, but arguably sounds too similar to better cuts preceding it.  It doesn’t help that it’s five-and-a-half-minutes in its own right.

The arrival of 🎵 “Mellow Peaches,” courtesy of 🎼✍ Joseph Lee Williams, is refreshing, something that Delta Kream needed at this point.  It’s merely the third track of the album that runs under four minutes in duration.  A change of groove and feel helps amplify excitement, something that waned a bit on the previous two cuts (“Sad Days, Lonely Nights” and “Walk With Me”).  Like the top of the album, “Mellow Peaches” features top-rate vocals from Dan, and excellent use of pacing and space, as well as elite musicianship.  Penultimate cut 🎵 “Come and Go with Me” (Kimbrough) returns to an extended duration of six minutes but does so effectively.  There’s a chill energy of sorts as the record is a bit softer and slower.  Again, Dan sounds fantastic vocally, while the play between organ and guitar represents one of the better instrumental moments of the LP.  As aforementioned, 🎵 “Crawling Kingsnake (Edit)” concludes.  

Final Thoughts 💭

All in all, The Black Keys deliver a fine, blues/ blues rock album with Delta Kream.  This is a starkly different album from “Let’s Rock”, and it’s a welcome contrast.  Is this a perfect affair? No.  At times, the tracks run a bit too long or grow too similar, something that happens by the time one reaches “Sad Days, Lonely Nights.” Still, there are no glaring miscues and more often than not, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney nail it.    

✅ Gems 💎: Crawling Kingsnake,” “Louise,” “Poor Boy a Long Way From Home,” “Stay All Night,” “Going Down South,” “Do the Romp” & “Mellow Peaches”

🎙 The Black Keys • 💿 Delta Kream • 🏷 Nonesuch • 🗓 5.14.21

[📷: Nonesuch]