I don’t know where you are in the world, but from where I sit, it’s raining. A lot. Good for the crops, good for the ducks, bad for the mind state and emotional well-being. Rainy days are only good if you are in a position where you can wear sweatpants, watch movies and take naps. If not, rainy days are the worst and that I believe is a statement that can be backed up by our good friends at science.

Thankfully, NPR is here to make the day more tolerable. The good folks spinning jams at First Listen have put up Waiting on a Song, the new solo album from Dan Auerbach. The first few tracks released pointed to a sunny, 70’s AM radio vibe and you know, those tracks weren’t lying because that’s exactly what this album sounds like.

Full disclosure, I’m assuming this is what AM radio sounded like in the 1970’s. I listen to AM radio now and it’s right wing garbage and excited dudes yelling in Spanish. I’m guessing things might have changed.

Auerbach packed up and set up shop in Nashville a few years back, setting up a studio and working with everyone from Lana Del Rey to his other project, The Arcs. I suppose, at least in some circles, that the thinking was that after he was done with The Arcs he might give ol’ Pat Carney a call and get the Black Keys back up and running. That doesn’t seem to be the case though and if anything, this album kind of only casts more doubt about the Keys future, a future that started to get murky when Auerbach insisted on The Arcs being referred to as a band and not a side project. It just seems as if Auerbach keeps getting farther and farther apart from returning to the blues, rock stomp of the Keys and the thumping thunder of Carney’s drumming. That’s sad. A lot of love for the Black Keys here at Giddy Up America.

But hey, there’s also a lot of love for this new album. It has summer written all over it.

If only today’s weather felt like summer.

Categories: Music

Tags: dan auerbach, first listen, NPR, the black keys