10 Perfect Garage Rock Albums With No Bad Songs
6. Thickfreakness - The Black Keys (2003)
This was long before the Black Keys became the big name they are today. Their second record couldn't fit the moniker of 'garage rock' anymore if it tried. It's about as raw as you can get: two childhood friends, jamming out in a basement, and laying down hard rock music on whatever equipment they could cobble together.
Due to the duo spending their record advance on rent, they were forced to record the album in Patrick Carney's basement, on an old '80s track recorder. The sound of Dan Auerbach's guitar is so saturated with fuzz, that when you're done listening to it, everything else sounds eerily clear. Thickfreakness, is the perfect title, everything about these songs sounds fat and muffled. Auerbach whales into the mic like the freaky embodiment of blues itself, with his voice sounding distinctly altered by the poor equipment.
Even if we hadn't told you, you could guess this was recorded in a basement. The drums sit way back in the mix, the vocals are right in the front and the guitar is off centre, but it all works. You wanted garage rock, here, have some basement rock instead.