On first listen, I automatically dismissed The Black Keys as a White Stripes without the initial selling point of a barely competent drummer. But amidst the similarities lay a large portion of blues 'soul', if you'll excuse the accidental genre-hopping pun. The songs had an untraceable but definitely prominent feel of authenticity compared to a fair few bands of the time who were out there flogging American blues/country/whatever for all the dollars and cents it was worth. And while The Black Keys sometimes struggled to hold on to this feeling, it seems that inside the bits and databytes of Keep It Hid, Dan Auerbach has taken this loose idea, distilled it into a potent essence, and lavishly sprinkled it all over the 14 tracks that constitute this album.Balls out, blues stompers like 'I Want Some More' and 'The Prowl' feel like classics already, following traditional guidelines, but still feeling fresh and new. This is probably partly due to Auerbach's love of analog and vintage, recording Keep it Hid mainly on such equipment. But to base the positives of the music on the recording technique used bypasses Auerbach's great sense of songwriting and subtle innovation. Small things, like throwing an electronic kit in at the start of 'Real Desire'. Bits and bobs that you automatically overlook because of the overall feel of the piece. In 'The Prowl', where the 'ahs' seem to carry on about two bars too long, but at the same time feel natural. Taking the original formulas and stretching the elasticity of them, to a comfortable compromise between old and new.And if you thought that Mr Auerbach was only talented at the loud and smart, he can do quiet and smart with equal talent and panache. Album opener 'Trouble Weights A Ton' is a beautifully sung and heartfelt slowie, and 'Whispered Words' is a mid-paced track that brings to mind the 1960's/1970's heyday of British (American influenced, of course) guitar bands, with bendy solos and springy reverbs aplenty.Title track 'Keep it Hid' does sound a littttttle bit White Stripsey, but that can be put down to the distortion on the voice, not the voice itself. Auerbach has a less screeching, more deeply pained tone, sometimes flitting around the extreme, like an ageing artist singing out his final days in tiny clubs, full of vitriol and cynicism for chances missed. Evocative, certainly.If there is one criticism I can make of this album, it's that 'Heartbroken, In Disrepair' sounds like a bastard pastiche of Gomez's 'Bring It On' and Kid Rocks seminal 'Cowboy'. Can't really put my finger on why, and that may well indeed be a personal comparision, but 'Heartbroken...' is just a little too cheesy and hammy, guitars being played into fans, and last-word-of-the-sentance backing vocals only serving to enhance cliches. The rest of the tracks on the album however, walk perfectly along the line between respectable and mainstream dilution. 80%Dan Auerbach On Myspace