Customer Reviews

Chulahoma

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great EP and more than worth the money it costs. You need to keep in mind though that this is not your typical Black Keys album. It actually sounds more like their first album The Big Come Up than their last album Rubber Factory. This album has the rawness of their first album and is not as polished as Rubber Factory. To me this is a good thing though. I love rough and raw music. This is also why it is so cool that they are doing Junior Kimbrough songs. Kimbrough is probably one of the rawest blue artists ever and the Black Keys really capture his sound and even take it a step further by using their distorted guitar and raw backbone drumming. If you don't know Junior Kimbrough he is really worth checking out but you need to be aware that some of his songs "wander" a bit, meaning that they aren't clean, concise, and under three minutes. The same is true for the songs on this album. Overall though I think this is one of the best efforts the Black Keys have offered yet.

This is a brilliant release. I have been itching for a new Black Keys release since getting a hold of The Rubber Factory and this EP is every bit as satisfying(if not more so) than a full LP of new original Keys material.

What is perhaps most impressive about this collection of songs is that it will undoubtedly bring great blues music to the attention of people that may not have ever heard it otherwise. The Doors were the first band to bring the brilliant song writing of Willie Dixon to my attention and the Keys have done the exact same with the music of Junior Kimbrough.

The production is exactly what it should be- clean, clear and direct. The songs themselves are outstanding. One thing that really strikes me about this EP is just how sincere this recording comes across. These young guys sound every bit as genuine and real as The Rolling Stones did way back when while covering the legendary Blues and R&B standards that inspired them.

I hate to take shortcuts by name dropping bands like The Doors and The Rolling Stones, but if my comparisons get your attention, then my mission is accomplished.

The pop hooks of songs like 10A.M. Automatic may not be here, but everything that is good in music most certainly is.

Buy this.

Everything these guys have put out is gold. If your favorite White Stripes song is Ball and Biscuit you'll love the Black Keys. I recommend starting with the Big Come Up and working your way through the albums to this one.

If they don't play a small venue in or around NYC soon I will cry. For a band that sounds like this to open for Radiohead in MSG for $70 a pop is a joke.

I don't read or write reviews, but this is beyond music. I made the mistake of listening to this on my I-pod at work and the trance-like state it produced was detrimental to my daily corporate productivity. I closed my office door and pretended to be hard at work and listened to this album from start to finish continuously for 8 hours. I wept during "Meet me in the City" on the third and fourth listens and was emotionally spent and drained by the end of the day. This takes human pain and suffering and longing and even joy; things that are usually inutterable and inexpressible and puts them into music. Junior had something inside him and music was the only way he could get to it and bring out. Thank God for Junior and The Black Keys.

I'm very proud of the boys for putting this one out. It's a fitting tribute. Dan's love of Junior is real, and the result is a perfect blending of Junior and the Black Keys. If you ever spent a night at Junior's Juke Joint, in Chulahoma, then you know the meaning of psychadelic soul; and the boys captured that feeling perfectly. The music is primitive, hypnotic and sexual. If you want the same old, worn out 12 bar blues, don't buy this cd. If you want honest, raw and deeply felt blues, buy this cd, and another one by Junior himself. This music comes with the seal of approval from Junior's widow, Mildred. You can't get any higher praise than that. I have strong feelings about this one. I wish more musicians would try to pay back the elders who inspired them. Hat's off to Dan and Pat!!

I would consider this relaxing. Not in the ambient, electronic sort of way; this is very much blues. It's a different kind of blues; trance blues, which is Junior Kimborough's (all of these are covers) stamp on the blues. My words can not begin to describe how much this EP means to me. It's study music, it's driving music, it's music to make love to.

Just get it.

A nod to the insight of two other reviewers:

A) Ball and Biscuit is indeed far and away my favorite White Stripes song and I understand why the other reviewer makes that point in relation to the Black Keys.

B) In linking this intense-blues-groover to the Rolling Stones in their heyday, I would specifically point to I Just Want To See His Face, the fragmentary gospel-blues-from-the-jungle groove near the end of Exile On Main Street.

I have just started exploring the Black Keys lately on the recommendation of a friend and up to now, have very much liked but not fallen in love with this band. However, Chulahoma stopped me dead in my tracks and just knocked me out. This is such intense, grooving blues, elastic without being jammy, can't say enough about it. The vocals are mixed evenly with guitar and drums giving the effect of an album of near-insturmentals. This is a good thing.

If you are coming at this record from a rock and roll fan perspective, it will naturally lead you to the deep-blues of Junior Kimbrough. Thank you Black Keys and Thank you Junior Kimbrough.

When you listen to this album you can't help but feel like you are the coolest cat around. Dan nails the mood and passion of Junior.

I am so thankful for Pandora introducing The Black Keys AND Junior Kimbrough to me in 2009 and very pleased to see them getting some more media attention lately - 2 Grammys!?!?!?!! Awesome. This album is what good music is all about to me. It captures so much and there is a LOT of history behind it in both Junior and The Keys' influence by him and you can feel it in every note.

Thank you so much for making this EP. It's among the best blues, best rock and best overall albums in my extensive collection.

I have been a huge Black Keys fan from the beginning, and this is still my favorite of their albums. Their are only six songs, but this is one of the most beautiful albums in years. I'm sure there will be a Black Keys backlish at some point (if there isn't one already) but this album will never get old for me. Simply amazing.