Lloyd's Garage Vs. The Black Keys

posted in: Rock

The Black Keys have been on a roll recently. Their 2010 album Brothers debuted at Number 3 on the Billboard Charts, they won a GRAMMY for Best Alternative Music Album and have been featured in countless advertisements. The duo show no signs of slowing down any time soon. They recently announced (via a hilarious video that features Bob Odenkirk) that their new album, El Camino, will be released on December 6th of this year.  The Keys’s brand of blues-infused rock is a breath of fresh air to the mainstream music scene that has been dominated by synth pop recently. So, in honor of their recent success, we here at Vs. decided to compare them to one of OurStage’s best blues rock bands, Lloyd’s Garage.

Just like The Black Keys, Lloyd’s Garage is a duo comprised of a guitarist/singer and a drummer. However, having a small band actually works to their advantage, using raw energy to make up for the lack of other instruments. “Blackbird” illustrates a few similarities between the two groups. The song begins with a distorted, bluesy riff that repeats itself throughout the song. Since Lloyd’s Garage does not have a bass player, this riff acts as both the melodic and rhythmic basis on which the song is built. This is a technique that The Black Keys have been using for years, and it is a major factor in how they can write such great songs with only two members. But the biggest similarity between the two bands might be the vocals. Both Seth Heitzmann (Lloyd’s Garage) and  Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) have great rock and roll voices. Heitzmann’s voice shares Auerbach’s soulful bluesy snarl, but with a slightly lower pitch. Nevertheless, Heitzmann still has a pretty incredible rang,e and he always seems to hit the right note.

While “Blackbird” is an uptempo song that leans more towards rock side of things, Lloyd’s Garage knows how to slow it down with some more old school blues. Take their track “The Ghost and The Zombie” for example. If you listen to the intro of this song, you may notice that it bares some similarity in style to The Black Keys’ song “All You Ever Wanted”. Both songs start at almost the exact same tempo, and both feature blues progressions with quiet and subdued guitar parts. However, Lloyd’s Garage switch up the feel about halfway through “The Ghost and The Zombie” by picking up the tempo and changing to a more straight ahead rock approach.

Now, it’s not all just blues licks and rock riffs for Lloyd’s Garage. “Suitcase” is an interesting song that shows that the band has some folk influences. Instead of hard riffs, this song relies on simple guitar chords and Heitzmann’s great vocal performance. Yet, instead of just writing a standard folk song, the band makes their own brand of folk-rock by speeding up the tempo and adding in drums. “Oh Lovely” is another upbeat song that is based around chords rather than riffs. The song is an incredibly catchy pop rock song, but also contains a very raw recording quality that lacks the studio trickery that most modern rock bands employ. Lloyd’s Garage are bringing a no nonsense attitude back to rock and roll, and it’s just what the doctor ordered.

You can download Lloyd’s Garage’s album From the Comfort of Your Home here.