New Song: Black Keys Return (Already) With The Bluesy Stomp of “You Got To Lose” – Announce New LP ‘Peaches!’

While I spent most of February obsessing over 70s bands who sold out in the 80s, the Joe Bonamassa helmed B.B. King’s Blues Summit 100, and Beck’s new compilation of rarities, Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime the Black Keys snuck out a new song. I’m not sure how I didn’t catch this earlier? But on February 5th, the Black Keys released a new single, a cover of an Earl Hooker blues tune once covered by guitar mangler George Thorogood, “You Got To Lose.”

Part of the reason I think this one got past my rock n roll radar is the Keys just put out an album last…checks notes… August, No Rain No Flowers. These guys are putting our records like it’s the 70s when artists put out an LP every year. That last LP was also a surprise because they’d dropped Ohio Players only 18 months prior to that in April 2024. Forget about the 70s comparison, these guys are putting out records at an almost Beatlesque pace from 1963-1964. I think the Beatles put out 4 albums in 1 and 3/4 years back then.

I actually stumbled across this tune by accident on the dreaded Spotify. I don’t know who’s working the marketing end for the Keys but they need to fire that guy. When I hit play on this track I was blown away by how dirty and gritty this blues rock song is. I hadn’t been this happy about a Black Keys first single since “Wild Child.” It is nasty rock and I mean that in a good way.

I’ve been a fan of the Black Keys for a long time. My fandom started to lag a little bit around the time of Magic Potion, but then the Rock Chick bit hard on the 2008 album Attack And Release and that was all it took… the Keys had pulled me back in again. I had picked up Rubber Factory and soon after Attack And Release came out the Rock Chick discovered that I had that one and suddenly they were back in high rotation.

The thing I loved about Rubber Factory was that it was so rough and raw. It was a rocking, in your face bluesy affair. There was very little polish on that record. I’ve been on the Keys bandwagon ever since and they’ve released a string of great albums including Brothers (2010), El Camino (2011), and Let’s Rock (2019). Hell I was fully on board for the Delta Kream which was chock full of Mississippi Hill Country blues.

But over the last few albums I’ve noticed a drift toward more polished records with a bit more of a pop sheen. I loved Ohio Players and No Rain, No Flowers, but the Rock Chick was distressed by their cleaning things up. She doesn’t feel that way about “You Got To Lose.”

When I hit play on this track the Rock Chick’s eyes lit up. This song sounds like their classic stuff from Rubber Factory or even possibly their debut, which I also loved. The nasty riff that starts this track has echos of Peter Green‘s great blues tune with Fleetwood Mac, “Oh, Well.” That’s a pretty good place to start. The vocals are fuzzy and wonderful. These guys rock hard on this song. Here’s a snippet:

Apparently, guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach’s father was diagnosed with cancer – I’m sending positive vibes their way, hopefully he gets well soon – and drummer Patrick Carney suggested they go into the studio and just jam. Well, they certainly got their frustrations worked out on this song. Apparently that turned into a whole album, Peaches! I’m not sure what the release date is.

The guitar attack on this song is savage. I absolutely love this kind of Black Keys track. Patrick Carney is an underrated drummer. He kills it on this track as well. Any fans of blues/blues rock, like me, will love this song. This is straight up, in your face, rock n roll with a blues base. It’s wonderful.

Turn this up as loud as the neighbors will allow and enjoy.

Cheers!