While
the Black Keys have dipped into their love of Mississippi blues in the past, they bring their fascination with the Delta roots sounds to the fore with their heartfelt 2021 covers project
Delta Kream. Named after the iconic
William Eggleston photo that adorns the album cover, the record finds the duo of singer/guitarist
Dan Auerbach and drummer
Patrick Carney putting their distinctive, garage rock stamp onto songs by such Mississippi blues legends as
Junior Kimbrough,
R.L. Burnside, and
Mississippi Fred McDowell. Reinterpreting the work of landmark Southern Black artists is a tricky proposition for most bands, let alone a group of white indie rockers like the Akron, Ohio-bred/Nashville-based
Black Keys. Thankfully, while it's somewhat looser and more low-key than the group's sonically ambitious studio efforts,
Delta Kream percolates with a respect for the source material. Recorded with no rehearsal over a sweaty ten-hour session, the set works as a spiritual follow-up to their similarly inclined 2006 tribute EP
Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough. However, where that release found them sticking to their nervy two-person lineup, here they've expanded their approach, bringing along guitarist
Kenny Brown and bassist
Eric Deaton, both longtime
Burnside and
Kimbrough associates. Also on board is auxiliary percussionist
Sam Bacco and regular
JD McPherson pianist/organist
Ray Jacildo. Their presence adds a level of legit, whiskey-soaked virtuosity to
the Black Keys' sound. As a singer,
Auerbach's nasally Midwestern yawp is a good fit for the Mississippi blues style, and together with this bolstered
Black Keys lineup it evokes the '70s Southern rock and blues of artists like the
Allman Brothers and
Peter Green. Kicking off the album is the duo's rendition of the classic
John Lee Hooker and
Big Joe Williams track "Crawling Kingsnake." Swampy, yet vibrating with a dreamy psychedelic quality, the song perfectly sets up what is to come. Equally engaging is their slide guitar-accented take on
Burnside's "Poor Boy a Long Way from Home" and their woozy, meditative reading of
Kimbrough's "Walk with Me." Laconic and acidly textured,
Delta Kream is a perfect balance of
the Black Keys' lo-fi swagger and keen ear for the Mississippi blues traditions that inspired it. ~ Matt Collar
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