The Black Keys have been making their brand of music for a little more than 20 years now. They’ve made 11 albums, they’ve won a handful of Grammys, they’ve won Brit Awards, they’ve been playing basketball arenas for almost a decade. A lot has changed since the debut album was issued in 2002, but The Black Keys haven’t changed much at all. 

Even with all their success, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney still have that “us against the world” attitude. It serves them well on the new work. Dropout Boogie has that raw and ragged bluesy sound that they’ve been mining from the get-go. 

These gents still dig the blues. It’s all over the Dropout Boogie. Maybe their previous album of blues covers, Delta Kream, put them in the proper mood. The blues spell is all over “For the Love of Money,” featuring some great swamp rockin’ dirty blues lick on this one.

Or maybe inviting Billy Gibbons from that lil’ ole band from Texas, ZZ Top, was just what the doctor ordered. On “Good Love,” Gibbons lays down one of his signature nasty blues riffs on a guitar he’d never played and an amp he’d never used before. He’s an old pro! Auerbach and Carney show they are true ZZ Top disciples on “I Need You Tonight.” It makes me wonder if Auerbach was using one of those signature ZZ-Top fur guitars!

Dropout Boogie isn’t just a blues album. The fellas show a hint of glam rock and psychedelia on the T.Rex-inspired “Wild Child.” They also show some southern rock love on “Baby I’m Coming Home” which kind of echoes The Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider.”   

Dropout Boogie sounds like the album The Black Keys really wanted to make. Full of badass blues, garage, and swamp rock. It doesn't sound like an album from a band that plays in basketball arenas. It sounds like a band playing a smokin’ set at the corner bar. That’s a good thing!