Dan Auerbach - "Waiting On A Song"

You all may know Dan Auerbach here from The Black Keys, who for some time now has been one of the staple acts in modern blues.  And really, it's not hard to see why.  Almost every Black Keys album to some extent is pretty darn decent (Except for "Turn Blue", I like to forget that album exists).  Besides that, Dan's had a whole lot of success with The Black Keys.  In 2009 though, Dan decided to start releasing some solo stuff too.  His first album, 2009's "Keep It Hid" was solid for the most part.  A lot of the material on here sounded like really decent Black Keys B-Sides, like "My Last Mistake, and "The Prowl".  But some of the softer tracks on here really didn't do as much for me at all.  But Ohhhhh Dan. Dan's back for his second solo album, and these singles leading up to it have been pretty awful to be honest.  Let's talk about this.

This album starts off with “Waiting on a Song”, and this is certainly the Sunshine Pop intro that I seriously was NOT expecting.  All I have to say is, I really don't even know where Dan came up with this idea.  There's not a lick of Blues influence here at all, and there’s literally nothing else here but cheesy Pop Rock here.  Like, if “Waiting On A Song” had the slightest bit of grit to it, I wouldn’t be nearly as hard on this.  But more than anything, this just really confuses the hell out of me coming from Dan.  The guitar solo is OK, but what the hell does that even mean in this incredibly fluffy atmosphere.  And then we have these lyrics which Dan may or may not have stolen from Barney the Dinosaur.  If you want to keep the respect that you have for Dan Auerbach, stay away from this.  Thankfully, this album isn’t completely unlistenable.  “Malibu Man” was clearly influenced by older funk and soul music, and that’s certainly cool.  At the very least, this track isn’t THAT corny, and there are elements here that I can certainly dig.  Hell, even Dan sounds more like himself vocally and lyrically.  There are some seriously bluesy licks here, and while this is still FAR from what I wanted to hear from Dan, I’m ok with this.  The backing instrumentals give this a very BIG sound, which is going to piss a lot of people off, and don’t even get me started on those backing vocals. But as far as Dan’s solo work goes, this isn't horrible.  Like, I’m really trying to be nice here, but Dan makes it hard with tracks like “Livin’ In Sin”.   To me, what always made me love The Black Keys was the way they seemed so in tune with older music, it really seemed to come to them freely.  But here, Dan sounds like he’s desperately trying to fit in with every single “retro” guitar lick imaginable.  Lyrically, this just keeps getting worse and worse for Dan, with some seriously laughable lines that I feel bad even bringing up.  There continues to be absolutely no edge to any of this at all as well.  I used to love how stripped down and filthy early Black Keys recording were, and this is the absolute polar opposite.  Sorry Black Keys fans, “Livin’ In Sin” is freshly trimmed and ready for the pop charts.  And would you believe it, it get’s a whole lot worse with “Shine On Me”.  At first, I was seriously down with the more upbeat vibe on this one.  But holy hell, I feel like Dan took everything unbearable about the Sunshine Pop ere of Rock and abused it into this awful Pop Rock tune.  All I have to ask is, where did Dan even get the idea for this record?  I’m not even sure I want to know, because this is laughable.  Lyrically, I continue to feel like I’ve heard more sophisticated pop music out of Pitbull.  Not to mention, this atmosphere is sweet enough to get you a sugar hight from listening to this for 20 seconds.  As much as Dan is pushing the fact that he’s still the same artist, he’s sadly not even close.  

THANKFULLY, Dan does have a few really solid tracks in his arsenal.  For one, let’s talk about this “King of a One Horse Town” track.  If he wants to make more tracks like this, I’m 100% interested.  There are actually a TON of really great elements to this.  I love the backing instrumentals that are seriously mysterious, and the vocals are some of Dan’s coolest in years.  While this is still very far from your usual Black Keys sound, this is seriously very good.  I still think some of the lines here and there are a little cheesy, but overall this is a seriously classy, sort of retro rock track.  Hell, it even comes off a little less polished with even a little edge to it.  But then, just when I thought I was safe to let my guard down, Dan breaks out the dreaded acoustic guitar and all of my worst fears are realized on “Never In My Wildest Dreams”.  Oh boy, let me tell you, if you thought earlier tracks here were corny and sappy and awful, this is by far the worst yet.  By FAR.  Not even the genuinely cool horns that pop in can save this one.  Once again, I get what Dan is going for.  But this doesn’t fit the sound of this album at all.  Dan Auerbach on “Never In My Wildest Dreams” is about two notes away from a damn Ed Sheeran track, and I’m about two notes away from a nap.  Thankfully, Dan does wake me up for a few minutes at least with “Cherrybomb”.  I actually seriously like the funkiness on this one, and the drums that seriously give this one almost a tropical feel.  Dan’s vocals are once again sounding surprisingly really good here again, and his performance in general is actually really cool.  For how poppy this album has sounded so far, “Cherrybomb” doesn’t come off nearly as polished and manufactured sounding, and I love that.  But man, this is seriously funk and has me awake all over again, which I really thought was impossible.  In a way, this track almost reminds me of “Guero” era Beck with that sort of awkward swagger that surrounds this track.  I’m certainly digging “Cherrybomb”, and I’m glad Dan broke out at least a few good tracks.  Then we have “Stand By My Girl”, and I’d much rather listen to this than some of the earlier upbeat tunes here.  Lyrically, I still feel like Dan needs to take a BIG step back.   This continues to be ridiculously cheesy and all, but I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t catchy.  Overall, this album continues to be very polished sounding, and many people (like myself) are going to be really ticked off.  But as for a pretty polished, straight up rock tune, this really isn’t bad.  

Dan isn’t done with us yet.  On “Undertow”, I feel like Dan is going for another real knock out like he had earlier with some of the Retro tinged tracks that did work out.  And I do like some of the instrumentals, like the strings are brilliant and the funky vibe to this works great.  But holy hell, Dan, this vocal performance is laughable.  Then we have the finale, “Show Me”, which is more or less the epitome of my Black Keys nightmare.  This is way too sugary and ridiculously corny for my liking.  Now, some of the better composed tracks on here like “Malibu Man” I’ve been able to excuse with these awful lyrics.  But on “Show Me”, there is seriously no excuse.  Dan Auerbach, I don’t know what lead you to record this album my friend.  

Rating: 6.0/10

Give A Listen To: “Malibu Man”, King of a One Horse Town”, “Cherrybomb”, “Stand By My Girl”

Overall Thoughts:  Ohhhhh boy.  When I heard the last Black Keys album a few years ago, I thought my worst fears were realized.  But no, they clearly weren't, because this is just so much worse.  Dan Auerbach, a modern Blue icon, has been reduced to sugary Pop Rock with no grit or edge whatsoever.  There is the occasional really decent track, but the majority of this is some of the most cringe-worthy rock music I've heard all year.