Recorded just before the first supporting tour for
the Black Keys 2011 album
El Camino, and released just as the band was kicking off its second U.S. tour supporting the album, the 2012 EP
The Tour Rehearsal Tapes finds the Ohio duo bashing through six songs from
El Camino and
Brothers. They're vigorous and muscular, sounding a bit livelier than they did on their studio versions -- something that's down to the production being stripped to the bone -- but they also don't sound quite as tentative as they have in certain festival settings, either. Sonically, it's a throwback to their earliest work and has the songcraft of their latter work, so it captures the best of both words in a fun little EP for dedicated fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine