It’s a Friday night, long day at work and now home to relax, unwind and just plain decompress. What better way to do this than to have a glass of 16-year old Lagavulin single-malt scotch whisky (three fingers worth poured), a pint of Guinness, a nice novel and, finally, light up a nice cigar. But to truly round things out listening to The Black Keys’ Attack & Release album just tops it all.

One particular track in their 2008 Delta-blues and Zeppelin psychedelic rock fusion album which really gets my head nodding to the beat and my foot tapping is the second track listed. I speak of “I Got Mine” and does this song ever blow my mind like 10k call-girl with skills. This song right from it’s first heavy chord right down to the last brings to mind some down and dirty southern, Mississippi Delta-blues and classic Hendrix psychedelic rock. While this song like the rest of the album has a more polished sound than the typical lo-fi and “garage band” music The Black Keys have been known for it still retains an in-the-moment and live vibe to the track.

The first 30 or so seconds of the beginning is an aural assault from Dan Auerbach almost channeling Hendrix and Duane Allman. Accompanying Auerbach on the drums is the heavy sticks of Patrick Carney who seem to be attempting to pound every drum beat right straight through onto the floor. Delta-blues segues into a psychedelic late-middle section before the two fuse into one unique sound to finish off the song.

When it comes to two-man rock bands many seem to be fans of The White Stripes with a growing legion of music lovers prefering Flight of the Conchords. They’re both very good groups, but I’ll choose The Black Keys w/ Auerbach and Carney over the two any day of the week plus Sundays twice over. The Black Keys really keep classic southern blues rock alive and well.