In the midst of The Roots' latest concept-heavy 13th album (undun), I nearly forgot about The Black Keys' most recent release; El Camino was issued on the same day as undun and now that "the smoke has cleared," I've gotten an opportunity to fully digest The Keys' latest Blues-drenched offering. By now, it's pretty widely known that Dan Auerbach & Patrick Carney are a couple of pranksters... and they've chosen to align themselves with a cast of equally "zany" characters: Frank The Dinosaur, Mos Def, Danger Mouse, The Black Eyed Peas, Derrick T. Tuggle, pint-sized fighting children, ATL Twins, Dame Dash, and Tennis (Colorado).

So, many long-time fans were quite surprised after initially viewing Akron, OH's finest BRAND NEW music video, "Gold on the Ceiling." Said Reid Long-directed video features a continuous stream of grainy, behind-the-scenes footage filmed while on tour. It's very reminiscent of Classic Rock, which really lends the focus to Patrick Carney & Dan Auerbach's work ethic and the sheer Rock "N" Roll steez ["swagger"] of "Gold on the Ceiling." A fine representation of The Black Keys' overall "Throwback Rock" sound, I highly recommend picking up El Camino and it's companion album, Brothers (2010). If they keep up the rate @ which they've been going the past few years, it wouldn't be unlikely to expect a new Black Keys album in 2012!