Ethan Kennedy is the new Black Keys. He is better than the Black Keys. The Black Keys ruined themselves by following up a mediocre Attack+Release with an even worse Blakroc. Ethan Kennedy is so fresh that he can’t possibly ruin himself yet. He is the Black Keys to the power of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. He is intricately more interesting and far more exciting. The world needs to hear this stuff. (Note: Some of this is hyperbole. The Black Keys can’t really be upstaged – they created a niche and epitomized it. Further, the songs I’ve put up aren’t nearly as raw as the Black Keys or as reflective of their similarities).
But seriously, folks, the parallels are right there. Ethan Kennedy is a two man outfit; so are the Black Keys. They both play psychedelic blues rock like pros (though I’ll be the first to admit that the Black Keys use a shitload more distortion). They’re both as passionate as Saint Francis of Assisi was about the animals. They both kick ass. Hell, just take this song as an example:
Until I’d done my research, I wouldn’t have figured there were only two members to this band, with the multi-instrumentalism and layering being so diverse. But as it turns out, Ethan Kennedy and a gifted young drummer, Aeran Shabi, account for the myriad instruments heard on the album. [UPDATE: When playing live, the band has three members, with the addition of Sam Calvert on bass]
Ethan Kennedy endeavors to conjure this magic, not by a novel calculation of genre, but by energetically imparting his own unique character to his music. He belts out lyrics unencumbered with convention, though accessible through their earnest, yearning delivery. His singing is enveloped by music that is rock and roll in its heart and bebop in its brain. But it doesn’t stop there, it only starts there – Ethan Kennedy