Dedicated readers of Exclaim! are aware of our beef with the Black Keys. Last year, we gave their album Ohio Players a 4/10, and then they called out our journalist on KROQ for living in Manitoba. Sick burn!
Though we are petty, we still have a duty to report to you that this aging-out, mid-size band are putting out a record with the same title as their No Rain, No Flowers tour, and it's out August 8 via Easy Eye Sound / Warner. If you're wondering: yes, it's the rescheduled tour after their other one got cancelled due to shoddy management and totally not because of claims that it was undersold.
The announcement of No Rain, No Flowers also brings its title track, which is lyrically reminiscent of a song you'd hear in an early-grade assembly about bullying. "No rain / No flowers / More pain / More power / Baby, the damage is done / It won't be long 'til we're back in the sun," the chorus goes, with pacing so excruciatingly slow it insults the listener's intelligence. Listen to it, and check out the album's tracklist below.
No Rain, No Flowers:
1. No Rain, No Flowers
2. The Night Before
3. Babygirl
4. Down to Nothing
5. On Repeat
6. Make You Mine
7. Man on a Mission
8. Kiss It
9. All My Life
10. A Little Too High
11. Neon Moon