THE BLACK KEYS MAKE THEIR NONESUCH RECORDS DEBUT WITH MAGIC POTION SEPTEMBER 12

"Rare as it is to come across a band in its prime, at the flaming maximum of its powers, there's no mistaking it when it happens: A sense of inevitability, of necessity even, converges with a sense of surprise, and a fierce, ancient gladness."--Boston Globe

The Black Keys make their Nonesuch Records debut September 12 with their new album Magic Potion. Magic Potion is the band's fourth album and the follow up to 2004's critically acclaimed Rubber Factory, which was named one of the best albums of the year by Entertainment Weekly. The New Yorker called the album, "Direct, consistent, powerful, and loud...one of the best rock releases of the year."

The Black Keys--guitarist and singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney--recorded and produced Magic Potion this past winter in Akron in Carney's basement studio, The Audio Eagle Nest. Carney says, "Unlike all the other records, where we were just trying to figure out how everything worked, or pretending like we knew what we were doing by experimenting with mic placement, this one we just figured out what we liked and stuck to it," he explained. "The whole record has a more consistent sound, and it's a little bit heavier than our other records."

Childhood friends, Auerbach and Carney wrote and self-released their first album, 2002's The Big Come Up while mowing lawns in Akron. After fortuitously getting fired from their day jobs, The Black Keys embarked on their first tour. They received enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics and decided devote all of their time to music. Over the next four years they practiced and toured relentlessly, releasing two more albums: 2003's Thickfreakness and 2004's Rubber Factory, which was named after the abandoned tire factory where they recorded the album. They signed to Nonesuch Records earlier this year.

The Black Keys' live shows receive as much acclaim as their releases. In a recent review, The Washington Post described "a giant crashing that is louder and fuller and grimmer than a drummer and guitarist alone should be able to produce," and went on to say that, "Auerbach is a ferociously talented guitarist whose leads bristle and burn as if the guitar were a molten mass. And Carney wails on his drums as if he were taking part in an anger management therapy exercise. The pair's concert is as much a show of force as it is a musical performance."

Check out West Coast tour dates below:
Sept 6 / Showbox / Seattle, WA
Sept 7 / Roseland Theatre / Portland, OR
Sept 9 / The Filmore / San Francisco, CA
Sept 14 / The Avalon / Hollywood, CA
Sept 15 / House of Blues - San Diego / San Diego, CA