Scrobble Scribble #2: So He Won't Break by The Black Keys

The second song and artist to be featured is So He Won't Break by The Black Keys. I'm not too sure how I discovered The Black Keys, but I think I was listening to The Black Lips who, apart from sharing an almost similar name, also have a garage-rockish sound which I dug. And I think a few months ago Triple J started playing Strange Times which I didn't mind. Oh and also, the song with which this album belongs - Attack & Release - was produced by Danger Mouse who you may know as the other half of Gnarls Barkley with Cee-Lo, The Grey Album mashup, the latest Beck album and Gorillaz's bit old but still good album Demon Days. As for similar artists I think a lot of people would agree that The White Stripes would be the band to come swiftly to mind. Both have that garage-rock revival sound going, both are duos. I think the most distinct difference between these two groups would be the way in which the lead singers deliver their vocals - with Jack White being a bit more fast and aggressive whereas Dan Auerbach likes to just sing like a blues or soul musician.

Looking at my charts, The Black Keys have just recently been inducted in to my top 50 artists (I've been listening to them quite a bit lately) sitting somewhere around the 30 mark. Haven't played their songs on rotation enough yet to get a track into my favourite songs, so I'll see if I can change that with So He Won't Break.

Of course, I think the whole album is great but So He Won't Break just happened to be the song on at the time. Other tracks I'm diggin on the album are Psychotic Girl and Oceans and Streams, that consist the great sound of this duo. I don't know how you would describe So He Won't Break in musical terms but it's a pretty repetitive drum sort of pattern through the verses that concludes with a bit of guitar stroking at the end. There's a bit of guitar throughout - especially near the end where there's a little solo, I thought I heard a bit of keyboard or organs. The vocals are a bit distorted to make for that garage sound and aren't delivered in a loud, aggressive way by Auerbach (lead singer) instead he sort of croons or sings over it. As a song, it works well as a sort of old bluesy ballad except, you enjoy it.

The Black Keys - So He Won't Break


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