The Black Keys - Any Way the Wind Takes Them

As long as music remains our main job we're happy to continue putting out albums, Black Keys singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach assures The Skinny. They should already be famous, following on from the success of that other blues tinged rock and roll two-piece, The White Stripes. When asked about the inevitable comparison Dan flatly replies, "I don't think there is anyone out there who sounds like us." He's right, but with record companies falling over themselves to sign similar bands every time there's a breakthrough, it's astonishing that they've remained relatively unknown.

"In the States radio is really fucked up. They never play anything that hasn't cost a producer millions to manufacture," added Dan. "We get played on college radio stations, you know, the important ones. Most people actually hear about us through word of mouth, which is great."

It's raw and powerful music that is found in the most unlikely places – house parties, random compilation albums, scanning through a friend's playlist – and it lodges in your chest until you find out more. Dan's voice has that gruff, deep resonance that inspires heavy drinking and pointless reminiscing, backed by striking, riff-heavy guitar and steady, crashing drums.

Maybe they've just missed their era, there is no doubt the Black Keys would've been huge in depression-era America, touring the smoke-filled halls of the South, supported by the likes of Johnny Cash and B.B King, or in the sixties kicking around with Hendrix and Joe Cocker. While touring their last album they had been playing a cover of a song by Junior Kimbrough, a legendary bluesman from Mississippi, which proved so popular they ended up recording an EP of his songs called 'Chulahoma'. It's a stunning record, and it's amazing that it hasn't reached further than their dedicated fanbase.

First album 'Thickfreakness' was reputedly recorded in only twelve hours, and while latest offering 'Magic Potion' took around two months to record, since, "we just had so much more material to comb through," most songs were again nailed in just one take. Both albums were recorded in drummer Patrick's Carney basement studio in their hometown of Akron, Ohio, without the help of a producer and while committed to a similar DIY aesthetic as the White Stripes, The Black Keys have so far used a different format for recording each album. Their latest offering was produced using computers, resulting in "a different kind of roughness" according to Dan. "All production methods are good in their own way, and they all have limitations."

With such a pure, uncluttered sound, their music is often sampled by DJs – if you frequent dancefloors you've probably danced like a monkey on crack to a few of their lightning bolt riffs without even realising. Apparently Dan doesn't mind, "we've been approached to work with people but are pretty content to just push on doing what we are doing, and let people sample our work whenever they want."

'Magic Potion' sees the duo at their most stripped down and raw to date, with growing confidence they've focused on their defining elements, and produced something that cuts through any need for post-production. While many contemporary bands consistently re-invent their sound in a desperate attempt to revive flagging careers, future plans for The Black Keys don't stretch past continuing to record and tour, content as long as they can remain full time musicians. "Wherever it goes, it's going to go naturally. If it goes to hell, well we'll go with it."