To Be a Rock and Not to Roll: The Black Keys - "Little Black Submarines" (Speakeasy)
Way back in June, The Black Keys somehow managed to cram 50-60 hand-selected close friends, family members, and super-fans into notorious Nashville "speakeasy" [dive bar], Springwater Supper Club for a TOP SECRET show/music video shoot. After running through "Little Black Submarines" a few times, the night's festivities quickly transformed into an hour-long make-shift set. Having already re-enacted nearly every go-to Rock "N" Roll cliché in the book: bikini-clas hotties, animal puppet hi-jinx, brawling children, dancing salesmen, .gif short films, etc... The Black Keys opted for a FRESH approach - Live, loud & housed within one seedy-ass club!
"Little Black Submarines" is one of The Black Keys' ultimate hidden treasures buried deep within their most recent album, El Camino (2011). It's a retro-style Blues Rocker that honestly, kinda reminds me of either Led Zeppelin or Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Local Philly area station Radio 104.5 has been heavily spinning "Little Black Submarines" for quite a while now and I've been patiently waiting to finally feast my eyes on The Black Keys' officially-sanctioned music video. Man, I gotta say, photographer/film-maker Danny Clinch's unique vision really hits the nail right on the head! Dan Auerbach & Patrick Carney's next release will materialize in the form of a Black Keys/RZA collabo track: "The Baddest Man Alive," which will appear on the soundtrack to his directorial debut, The Man with The Iron Fists (Oct. 23-Nov. 2nd).
"There was a storyline, but it didn't work out... We all just sort of kind of mutually agreed that it should probably just be the performance and not any of the other extra stuff... Luckily, we had live footage, so we turned it into a live video. We just sort of said, "You know, it was fun kind of performing here @ [Springwater Supper Club] with the fans. Why don't we just have it be that?'"
- Dan Auerbach (Rolling Stone)