El Camino

The Black Keys

El Camino

Seventh studio album from the Akron Ohio garage rock duo Dan Auerback and Patrick Carney

ADM rating[?]

7.8

Label
Nonesuch
UK Release date
05/12/2011
US Release date
06/12/2011
  1. 10.0 |   The Independent

    There's an urgency and drive about these tracks that's simply exhilarating
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  2. 10.0 |   Mojo

    For all the scuffs and bruises - dropped drumsticks, filthy riffs, rusted metal - El Camino is beautifully put together. Print edition only

  3. 10.0 |   The Guardian

    They sound like a band who think they've made the year's best rock'n'roll album, probably because that's exactly what they've done
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  4. 10.0 |   Independent on Sunday

    Explodes with riffs that remind you of Bowie's "Jean Genie", the Eagles' "One of These Nights", Edwyn's "A Girl Like You" and all points glam, grunge and funky-blues-rock along the way
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  5. 9.0 |   Entertainment.ie

    Where previous album Brothers had an emphasis on soul, El Camino has a reverence for straight up rock and roll and garage punk, in all its grease-stained glory
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  6. 9.0 |   PopMatters

    The brilliance of El Camino lies in the fact that it is still perfectly modern, a step in the direction of legitimizing the use of vocal effects, multi-tracking and ultimately catchy choruse
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  7. 8.3 |   Paste Magazine

    An album that leaves you breathless and wanting more, but it becomes more fun with each new spin
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  8. 8.0 |   Clash

    Produced by man of the moment, Danger Mouse, the sound remains unmistakably Black Keys but adds further dimensions to what is already a winning mix
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  9. 8.0 |   Rolling Stone

    The Keys cited the Clash as an influence for El Camino, and that influence is evident in the increased zip of the grooves, and in the group hug between roots music and rock spectacle
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  10. 8.0 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Like the wood-paneled minivan that adorns the album cover, each track is big, brash, and classic
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  11. 8.0 |   The Scotsman

    The Black Keys wouldn’t claim to be original or innovative but they still sound fresh and invigorated
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  12. 8.0 |   Blurt

    There are Mouse noises to contend with, but nothing gets in the way of the fast danceable pulse and staggeringly messed up guitar-and-vocal attack arranged by Auerbach
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  13. 8.0 |   State

    The Keys have taken all the elements of their last few albums and fine tuned them into easy to swallow pieces
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  14. 8.0 |   Q

    This is unvarnished rock,primal and exhilarating. Print edition only

  15. 8.0 |   Uncut

    Feels like the dawn of greatness
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  16. 8.0 |   Spin

    Each track here is modded with classic cock-rock sonic tchotchkes: handclaps, talk-box guitar breaks, rainbow keyboards. The overall effect is something akin to ZZ Top with glitter in their beards
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  17. 8.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Every track on the album seems to boast a bigger, filthier hook than the one before it, and that's why El Camino works
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  18. 8.0 |   Under The Radar

    There isn't a bad song in the bunch, nor a moment to relax until you've ingested El Camino in full
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  19. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    Their musical sense is clear-sighted and exciting, taking in the work of blues musician Junior Kimbrough, the great Blackroc project, and Danger Mouse
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  20. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    Throughout they make something thrilling from basic ingredients
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  21. 8.0 |   Daily Telegraph

    Producer Danger Mouse, aka Brian Burton, sharpens up the sweet, melodic choruses that offset the duo’s unholy racket
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  22. 7.5 |   Prefix

    In 11 songs and just 38 minutes, the Black Keys do everything they did on Brothers, yet they do it better and they trim off a hell of a lot of fat
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  23. 7.5 |   A.V. Club

    El Camino is so relentlessly crowd-pleasing that it feels a bit inconsequential
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  24. 7.4 |   Pitchfork

    Seedy, escapist camp, crass but expert, so expert. That they're the true victors of the 2000s garage explosion is no shock at all. Rock came back. Commerce never left
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  25. 7.4 |   Beats Per Minute

    Aeons away from being revolutionary or influential, despite the public praise the album seems destined to receive. It is, however, The Black Keys, and even though it’s beginning to wear thin, that’s still saying something
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  26. 7.0 |   NME

    Whatever Danger Mouse has done to galvanise The Black Keys, he's got the band operating at maximum efficiency
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  27. 7.0 |   BBC

    A heftier dash of melodic sparkle to their churn of genres and next time their meat might match their might
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  28. 7.0 |   musicOMH

    Reliable, entertaining garage rock
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  29. 7.0 |   Bowlegs

    El Camino is the Black Keys doing what the Black Keys do – only better
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  30. 7.0 |   Rave Magazine

    Much like Brothers, it’s a record made for FM airwaves, with pristine keyboards and smooth low-end filling out the sonic spaces of yore
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  31. 6.5 |   The AU Review

    A collection of tight and inoffensive pop songs, which lack the subtlety and looseness of much of their previous work
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  32. 6.0 |   The Scotsman

    This record is a sheep in wolf’s clothing, with no real snap or bite but lots of warm fuzzy feelings
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  33. 6.0 |   The Observer

    El Camino may be fast and fun, but it is also somewhat undemanding. It lacks the eclectic savvy of Brothers and other Keys' works
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  34. 5.8 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    As easy as it would be to fault the band itself for the shortcomings presented before you, much of it I attribute to the incorporation of Danger Mouse into their normally cloistered songwriting
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  35. 5.0 |   No Ripcord

    The Black Keys have created a record that they believe is how a rock’n’roll record should sound, but without soul or sex or genuine sweet emotion
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The Black Keys: El Camino

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