Dropout Boogie

The notion of The Black Keys as some kind of neo-primitive blues machine risen from the swamp to bring you what rock was supposed to be has always been a little overstated: Like The White Stripes, they’ve always been highly style-conscious, not to mention more occupied with simplicity in concept than in practice—they work at it. <i>Dropout Boogie</i> feels of a piece with 2019’s <i>“Let’s Rock”</i>: catchy, concise, stripped down but polished, with references to glam (“Wild Child”), psychedelia (“How Long”) and post-Stones blues (the Billy Gibbons co-write “Good Love”). With 20 years as a band behind them, they have their story and they’re sticking to it. And the more sophisticated they get, the easier they make it sound.