The Black Keys Brothers released

Brothers The Black Keys

Released: May 18, 2010 Peak: 3 US, 29 UK, 4 CN, 8 AU Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.1 UK, 2.34 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Everlasting Light [3:24] Next Girl [3:18] Tighten Up [3:31] (4/23/10, 87 US, 12 AA, 110 MR, 57 CN) Howlin’ for You [3:12] (1/8/11, 9 AA, 39 AR, 3 MR, 50 CN) She’s Long Gone [3:06] Black Mud [2:10] The Only One [5:00] Too Afraid to Love You [3:25] Ten Cent Pistol [4:29] Sinister Kid [3:45] The Go Getter [3:37] I’m Not the One [3:49] Unknown Brother [4:00] Never Give You Up (Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, Jerry Butler) [3:39] These Days [5:12] Songs by Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 55:29 The Players: Dan Auerbach (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) Patrick Carney (drums, percussion)

Rating: 4.020 out of 5.00 (average of 33 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: The Black Keys formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001. They built an underground following through the decade while releasing five albums. Then came 2010’s Brothers which launched the band’s widespread commercial success when it reached #3 on the U.S. Billboard chart, sold more than a million copies, and won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. Before that point, the band had a handful of songs reach the lower reaches of the UK charts, but had never made any headway in their native U.S. The lead single, Tighten Up, changed the band’s fortunes, landing at #1 on the modern rock chart. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Song and won for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Buzzbin magzine’s Mark C. Horn said, “the song intros with the distinct whistling ofrom Ennio Morricone’s The Good, The Bad and the Ugly composition, backed up by Carney’s monster thump drumming and Auerbach’s soulful voice.” WK The song was followed by Howlin’ for You, another success on the modern rock charts. The video, directed by Chris Marrs Pillero, parodied action movie trailers. It starred Corbin Bernsen, Todd Bridges, Shaun White, and others. It also received a nomination for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video. Auerbach and Carney were at a crossroads prior to the making of Brothers. Auerbach made a solo album without Carney’s knowledge and Carney feared it was the end of the band. Carney also went through a painful divorce. However, when Auerbach and Carney got together, they acknowledged how important the band was to both of them. They wanted to record in a historic old studio and Auerbach suggested Muscle Shoals in Alabama. The first song they recorded, Next Girl, shaped the direction of the rest of the sessions. Musically, they took a rhythm-first approach to songs throughout the session while lyrically that first song’s lyrics about moving on set a tone. They found their time at Muscle Shoals to be “productive and inspirational.” WK Notes: “Ohio” and an alternate version of “Howlin’ for You” were added as bonus tracks. A 10th anniversary deluxe edition added “Chop and Change,” “Keep My Name Outta Your Mouth,” and “Black Mud Part II.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Black Keys WK Wikipedia First posted 3/13/2022.

The National High Violet released

High Violet The National

Released: May 11, 2010 Peak: 3 US, 5 UK, 2 CN, 29 AU Sales (in millions): 0.33 US, 0.13 UK, 0.53 world (includes US and UK) Genre: post-punk revival

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Terrible Love [4:39] (11/22/10, --) Sorrow [3:25] Anyone’s Ghost [2:54] (6/28/10) Little Faith [4:36] Afraid of Everyone [4:19] Bloodbuzz Ohio [4:36] (5/3/10) Lemonworld [3:23] Runaway [5:33] Conversation 16 [4:18] (10/25/10) England [5:40] Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks [4:12] Total Running Time: 47:40 The Players: Matt Berninger (vocals) Aaron Dessner (guitar, bass, keyboards, etc.) Bryce Dessner (guitar keyboards, etc.) Bryan Devendorf (drums, percussion) Scott Devendorf (bass, guitar)

Rating: 4.135 out of 5.00 (average of 29 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: These Cincinnati, Ohio natives formed the National in Brooklyn, New York, in 1999. They released their self-titled debut in 2001 and followed it with two more albums before they finally reached the U.S. Billboard album chart in 2007 with Boxer. That set the stage for their fifth album, 2010’s High Violet, to soar to #3 on the charts. The album was received with widespread critical acclaim. Channing Freeman of Sputnik Music called it the band’s “third masterpiece in a row” WK while BBC Music critic Mike Diver called it the band’s “finest disc to date.” WK Pitchfork’s Andrew Gaerig said the album is “the sound of a band taking a mandate to be a meaningful rock band seriously.” WK The A.V. Club’s Steven Hyden said the album is “richly detailed without being fussy” WK while Dave Simpson of The Guardian praised it as “beautifully subtle.” WK The Independent’s Andy Gill called it “a masterclass in subtle emotional shading.” WK Notes: The Japanese edition included “Walk Off” and “Sin-Eaters” as bonus tracks. There was also an expanded edition which included a bonus disc, which included live material, alternates, and other songs.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The National WK Wikipedia First posted 3/12/2022.

The Hold Steady Heaven Is Whenever released

Heaven Is Whenever The Hold Steady

Released: May 3, 2010 Peak: 26 US, 45 UK Sales (in millions): 0.023 US, -- UK Genre: post-punk revival

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release) The Sweet Part of the City [4:24] Soft in the Center [3:50] The Weekenders [3:48] The Smidge [3:22] Rock Problems (Finn, Kubler, John Reis) [3:31] We Can Get Together [4:29] Hurricane J (Finn, Kubler, Franz Nicolay) [3:02] (3/22/10, --) Barely Breathing [3:37] Our Whole Lives [4:00] A Slight Discomfort [7:13] All songs written by Craig Finn and Tad Kubler unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 41:21 The Players: Craig Finn (vocals, guitar) Tad Kubler (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) Galen Polivka (bass, backing vocals) Bobby Drake (drums, percussion, backing vocals)

Rating: 3.746 out of 5.00 (average of 35 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: The Hold Steady formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2003. They came to prominence with the released of their third album, 2006’s Boys and Girls in America and reached their commercial peak with this album, 2010’s Heaven Is Whenever. Lead sing Craig Finn compared it to their previous album, Stay Positive, saying that “was a record about trying to age gracefully. This record, I think actually was us aging gracefully.” WK Dean Baltulonis, who produced the band’s first two albums, returned as the producer for this album. Finn said he is “a real close friend, so it was kind of a more relaxed, less formal way of making a record.” WK Keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Franz Nicolay had left the band by this point. Guitarist Tad Kubler and Dan Neustadt both play piano and keyboards on the album, but in general the instruments are less featured here. WK Lyrically, Finn said the album deals with “struggle and reward. It’s about embracing suffering and understanding its place in a joyful life. I think that soe of the characters from old records are there, but I don’t name them by name. I think it continues to examine the highs and lows that we’ve looked at on previous records.” WK Notes: The iTunes version included the bonus tracks “Touchless” and “Ascension Blues.” A 2020 super deluxe edition included the songs “Separate Vacations,” “Criminal Fingers,” “Beer on the Bedstand,” “At Least Not Tonight,” “Wonderful Struggle,” Going on a Hike,” and “We Can Get Together.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Hold Steady WK Wikipedia First posted 3/9/2022.

LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver released

Sound of Silver LCD Soundsystem

Released: March 20, 2007 Peak: 46 US, 28 UK Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.1 UK Genre: electronica/dance punk

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Get Innocuous! (James Murphy, Tyler Pope) [7:11] Time to Get Away (Murphy, Pope, Patrick Mahoney) [4:11] North American Scum [5:25] (2/28/07, 40 UK) Someone Great [6:25] (10/22/07, --) All My Friends (Murphy, Mahoney, Pope) [7:37] (5/28/07, 41 UK) Us v. Them (Murphy, Mahoney, Pope) [8:29] Watch the Tapes [3:55] Sound of Silver [7:07] New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down (Murphy, Mahoney, Pope) [5:35] Songs written by James Murphy unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 55:55 The Players: James Murphy (vocals, synthesizers, drums, percussion, bass, programming, etc.) Tyler Pope (guitar, bass, etc.) Patrick Mahoney (drums, percussion) Nancy Whang (vocals)

Rating: 4.034 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: James Murphy founded LCD Soundsystem in Brooklyn, New York, in 2002. The dance-punk revival band’s third album, Sound of Silver, was the first to chart in the United States. “James Murphy had proven his kung fu as the most badass electro-punk producer in clubland. But not even fierce fans dreamed he’d make a masterpiece like Sound of Silver.” RS’20 The “dance-punk heartbreaker dares to ask a generation of aging hipsters: Are we growing old before we grow up?” EW’12 It was a “poignant elegy to losing your indie-rock cred.” EW’12 “LCD Soundsystem achieves greatness in the nine anthems that make up Sound of Silver.” PM “Every track sounded like a different band’s greatest hit.” RS’20 “One clearly evident aspect of the album is that Murphy has streamlined his sound.” AM “Compared to the first LCD Soundsystem album, Sound of Silver is less silly, funnier, less messy, sleeker, less rowdy, more fun, less distanced, more touching.” AM “All the jagged frays have been removed, replaced by a slightly tidier approach that is more direct and packs more punch.” AM Murphy comes across as a fully naturalized producer of dance music – especially on Get Innocuous! – as opposed to a product of ‘90s indie rock who has made a convincing switch-up.” AM “There’s something enduring about these droney indie-dance-punk grooves, these forward-looking sounds paired with James Murphy’s best lyrics, which are forever preoccupied with aging and the past—and memories, kept alive.” PM “It is just as linked to James Murphy’s record collection, with traces of post-punk, disco, Krautrock, and singer/songwriter schlubs, but the references are evidently harder to pin down; the number of names dropped in the reviews published before its release must triple the amount mentioned throughout ‘Losing My Edge.’ There’s even some confusion as to which version of David Bowie is lurking around.” AM “The album’s best song is sad, should not be played in any club, and it at least matches the work of any active songwriter who has been praised.” AM Someone Great is a “synth-pop breakup lament” RS’20 “built on swelling synthesizers and a dual vocal-and-glockenspiel melody, could definitely be about a devastating breakup (‘To tell the truth I saw it coming / The way you were breathing’), at least until ‘You’re smaller than my wife imagined / Surprised you were human,’ which could mean the song either took a turn for the absurd or is about the death (and funeral) of a loved one. Either way, it is the most moving song Murphy has made, and it only helps further the notion that he should be considered a great songwriter, not simply a skilled musician with a few studio tricks and the occasional clever quip.” AM “The closer, New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down, seals it: ‘New York, you’re perfect, oh please don’t change a thing/ Your mild billionaire mayor’s now convinced he’s a king/ And so the boring collect – I mean all disrespect/ In the neighborhood bars I’d once dreamt I would drink.’ If he keeps it up, he’ll be writing songs for Pixar by 2020.” AM The album also includes the “political punk goof North American Scum” RS’20 andAll My Friends, a “song for the ages…[with] huge, sweeping, ferociously emotional, with disco keyboards and rock guitars pulsing as Murphy looked back on a youth of killer parties and silent mornings.” RS’20

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for LCD Soundsystem AM AllMusic.com review by Andy Kellman EW’12 Entertainment Weekly (9/27/2012). “Top 100 Albums” PM PasteMagazine.com (6/3/2024). “The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time” RS’20 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” WK Wikipedia First posted 3/30/2010; last updated 9/11/2026.

TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain released

Return to Cookie Mountain TV on the Radio

Released: July 6, 2006 Peak: 41 US, 90 UK, 50 AU Sales (in millions): 0.24 US Genre: post-punk revival

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. I Was a Lover [4:21] Hours [3:55] Province [4:37] (5/8/06, --) Playhouse [5:11] Wolf Like Me [4:39] (2/13/06, 37 MR, 89 UK) A Method [4:25] Let the Devil In [4:27] Dirtywhirl [4:15] Blues from Down Here [5:17] Tonight [6:53] Wash the Day [8:08] Total Running Time: 56:10 The Players: Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, backing vocals, programming, sequencing) David Andrew Sitek (guitar, bass, synthesizer, horns, percussion, programming, sampling) Kyp Malone (vocals, backing vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer, strings) Jaleel Bunton (drums, percussion, guitar, bass, synthesizer, programming, strings) Gerard Smith (bass, organ, piano, sampling, programming)

Rating: 4.223 out of 5.00 (average of 34 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: The rock band TV on the Radio formed in Brooklyn, New York in 2001. Return to Cookie Mountain was their second album after their debut Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes in 2004. The first single from the album was Wolf Like Me, which barely dented the UK charts and the lower reaches of the Billboard alternative rock chart. Follow-up single, Province, featured backing vocals from David Bowie, who had championed the band after their first album. The single failed to chart. The album was well received by critics. Spin magazine even named it album of the year. It also made year-end top-ten lists for Rolling Stone, Slant, Stylus, Pitchfor, and Metacritic. Blender magazine named it one of the top 100 greatest indie-rock albums ever. WK Notes: The songs “Snakes and Martyrs,” Hours,” and “Things You Can Do” were added as bonus tracks on the U.S. release. The songs first appeared as B-sides on the single of “Wolf Like Me.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for TV on the Radio WK Wikipedia First posted 3/13/2022.

The Arctic Monkeys' debut hits #1 in the UK

Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not Arctic Monkeys

Released: January 23, 2006 Peak: 24 US, 14 UK, 16 CN, 11 AU Sales (in millions): 0.33 US, 1.38 UK, 2.71 world (includes US and UK) Genre: garage rock revival

Tracks: (Click for codes to singles charts.) The View from the Afternoon (4/24/06, --) I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor (10/17/05, #1 UK, #7 MR) Fake Tales of San Francisco (5/30/05, --) Dancing Shoes You Probably Couldn’t See for the Lights But You Were Staring Right at Me Still Take You Home Riot Van Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured Mardy Bum Perhaps Vampies Is a Bit Strong But… When the Sun Goes Down (1/16/06, #1 UK) From the Ritz to the Rubble A Certain Romance Total Running Time: 40:56 The Players: Alex Turner (vocals, guitar) Jamie Cook (guitar, vocals) Andy Nicholson (bass, vocals) Matt Helders (drums, vocals)

Rating: 4.112 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Quotable: The fastest selling debut in British history. Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: On the strength of MP3s of early demos posted on the web, the Arctic Monkeys went from “Internet phenomenon to the biggest band in the U.K.” AMG They became “the UK underground’s most proselytizing young preachers of the DIY gospel.” AZ When Whatever People Say I Am hit the streets, it sold 363,735 copies in its first week, selling more than the rest of the Top 20 combined and making it the fastest selling debut in British history. WK “Last time such excitement surrounded a new British guitar band it was a decade earlier, as Britpop hit overdrive with the release of Oasis’ 1994 debut, Definitely Maybe. All four members of the Arctic Monkeys were a little bit shy of their tenth birthday at the time, a bit young to be sure, but old enough to have Oasis be their first favorite band. So, it’s little surprise that the Gallaghers’ laddism – celebrating nights out fueled by lager and loud guitars – is the bedrock foundation of the Arctic Monkeys, just the way as it has been for most British rock bands since the mid-‘90s.” AMG The band delivered a “poetic punch-up of visceral rock ‘n’ roll” FO by “marrying nervy, caffeine-and-cigarettes indie clatter to conversational, pretense-free lyrics and the occasional burst of off-the-cuff eloquence.” AZ “With an atom-splitting opening riff and an agile beast blitzkrieg behind the drums” FO the Arctic Monkeys “made sense of the working-class adolescence that lay ahead of many fans.” FO The album “captures the energy of youth culture in such a way that it rattled anyone of age like a pinball in an earthquake.” FO Some consider Whatever to be “a concept album concerning the lives of young Northern England clubbers.” WK Indeed, songs like first single I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Still Take You Home, and You Probably Couldn’t See the Lights But You Were Staring Straight at Me “all examine human behaviour in nightclubs.” WK “From the Ritz to the Rubble is an account of nightclub bouncers, while When the Sun Goes Down was inspired by prostitutes…in the Neepsend district of Sheffield.” WK “Look beyond the Arctics’ bristly, laddish exterior, however, because it’s actually affairs of the heart that comprise this album’s secret core: see the sweaty-palmed Dancing Shoes, bearing testament to the trial of nerves that is pulling in a suburban indie nightclub, or Mardy Bum – a tribute to a moody girlfriend that, for all its witty barbs (‘I’ve seen your frown and it’s like looking down the barrel of a gun’), is tinted with sweet affection.” LP Also, “the Monkeys’ true musical ground zero is 2001, the year the Strokes stormed British consciousness with their debut, Is This It. The Arctic Monkeys borrow heavily from the Strokes’ stylized ennui, adding an equal element of the Libertines’ shambolic neo-classicist punk, undercut by a hint of dance-punk learned from Franz Ferdinand.” AMG “The opening The View from the Afternoon predicts a ruckus with a whole lot more grit than the Kaisers can muster, while on the mellow Riot Van, a tale of underage drinking and cop-baiting culminates in a messy beating in the back of a station wagon.” LP Whatever captures the band “jamming in too many angular riffs into too short of a space, tearing through the songs as quickly as possible. But where the Strokes camouflaged their songwriting skills with a laconic, take-it-or-leave-it sexiness and where the Libertines mythologized England with a junkie poeticism, the Arctic Monkeys at their heart are simple, everyday lads, lacking any sense of sex appeal or romanticism, or even the desire for either.” AMG “Lead singer/songwriter Alex Turner tells stories from their lives – mainly hookups on the dancefloor and underage drinking, balanced by the occasional imagined tragic tales of prostitution and the music industry.” AMG However, “the band doesn't soar with youthful abandon, it merely raises a bit of noise in the background.” AMG Whatever sports a “dry production, sounding for all the world like an homage to Is This It – all clanking guitars and clattering drums, with most of the energy coming from the group’s sloppy call-and-response backing vocals.” AMG The recycling of not-so-old sounds and styles can leave the Monkeys’ debut “surprisingly predictable” AMG but “the one thing that sets them apart, and does give them promise, is Alex Turner’s writerly ambitions.” AMG “While his words can be overcooked – allusions to Romeo & Juliet do not necessarily count as depth – he does tell stories, which does distinguish him from his first-person peers. But it's a double-edged sword, his gift: the very thing that sets him apart – his fondness for detail, his sense of place – may be the quality that makes his work resonate for thousands of young Britons, but they also tie him completely to a particular time and place that makes it harder to relate to for listeners who aren’t in his demographic or country (and perhaps time).” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Arctic Monkeys AZ Amazon.com (product description) AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine LP Louis Pattisonn, Amazon.com FO Far Out (7/16/2021). “The 21 Best Albums of the 21st Century” by Jack Whatley, Joe Taysom, and Tom Taylor WK Wikipedia First posted 1/29/2012; last updated 4/28/2022.