Magic Potion

iTunes Review

On the surface Magic Potion is an odd name for music made by this earthy Akron duo. But there is magic here. With the flick of an amp switch and a twirl of drum sticks the Black Keys conjure musical splendor from the most unpromising of raw materials. Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney, two unassuming looking young men from Ohio who approach the blues with an intuitive sympathy and a reckless sense of joy, play with an unparalleled instrumental cohesion that moves like the Meters’ syncopated funk and bludgeons with the brute force of the Stooges in their heyday. On Magic Potion the Black Keys hove close to their tried and true strategy of strut and destroy. Though the clipped, New Wave-ish chords of “Strange Desire”, and Auerbach’s addled John Lennon style croon on “You’re The One” find the group inching into new musical territory, the album’s best moments come when the Black Keys forget about songwriting, and mine the hypnotic grooves of numbers like “Just Got To Be” and “Elevator” for all they're worth.