In the beginning, however, the Keys were less experimental than the Stripes and their soundscapes (both characterised by the dominance of guitar and drums) were quite different. Comparisons have been drawn between their variety of rock and that of another duo, the erstwhile White Stripes its guitarist and vocalist, Jack White, and Auerbach have, incidentally, sparred in the past, partly owing to those very same comparisons in the media. Their sound was uncompromisingly brutal and purist. Auerbach and Carney began as an Akron, Ohio-based blues rock band.

Ten years later, the album still sounds fresh, relevant and instantly accessible. Last month, The Black Keys released a deluxe remastered anniversary edition of Brothers, its original songs enhanced by two new ones, Keep My Name Outta Your Mouth and Black Mud Part II. It also marked a move back by the band (Dan Auerbach on guitar and vocals, and Patrick Carney on drums) to the minimalist, heavily blues-influenced and raw sound of their early albums. The Black Keys’ Brothers, on the other hand, pole-vaulted the band to commercial success. The album wasn’t regarded very highly, although it has some of the most popular songs sung by the blues maestro ( Spoonful, Smokestack Lightning, The Red Rooster and Back Door Man). Wolf’s album cover was a marketing strategy by a subsidiary label of the famed Chess Records that published it. He didn’t like his electric guitar at first either.” And a bit reminiscent of the cover art of the late great Howlin’ Wolf’s 1969 album, simply titled The Howlin’ Wolf Album, whose cover said in bold black typeface: “This is Howlin’ Wolf’s new album.

The name of this album is Brothers.” Spare, no-frills, minimalist. For one, there’s its stark cover art: just two sentences against a black background. In May last year, Brothers, the sixth album by The Black Keys, turned 10.

Black keys brothers album sleeve