Over the past decade, the Black Keys have had no trouble gaining notoriety for their blues driven power rock, and it was only a matter of time till guitarist/singer Dan Auerbachvreleased a solo disc. After reaching new heights with their critically and commercially successful 2008 album, Attack and Release (produced by Danger Mouse), Auerbach retreated to his home of Akron, Ohio, to begin work on his recently released solo album, Keep it Hid.

Although Auerbach doesn’t stray too far from his standard dirty delta blues approach, Keep It Hid poses as a completely different record in some respects. With the absence of PatnCarney, the album lacks the raw energy that made the Black Keys so damn entertaining in the first place, but Auerbach manages to compensate with his uncanny ability to reach all ends of the rock ‘n’ roll spectrum. Kicking it off with a whimper, “Trouble Weighs a Ton,” one of the few acoustic trackson the album, gives us a chance to hear some soothing vocals devoid of all distortion. “Real Desire,” a mid-tempo love song, blends majestic organs with some twangy guitar licks, producing what is probably the most beautiful thing Auerbach
has written since “The Lengths,” from the 2004 release Rubber Factory. Although let it be duly noted that this claim is immediately contested by the following track: “When the Night Comes.”

Keep It Hid manages to keep you attentive through its various styles. The urgency of “Streetwalkin,” as well as the channeling of Jerry Garcia in “Last Mistake,” “When I left the Room” and “The Provvl,” seem like they wouldn’t be too out place on a Black Keys record either. If you like The Black Keys you’ll probably enjoy Keep It Hid and if you don’t, hell, try giving it a spin, it’s probably got something almost anyone can enjoy.