News for those waiting for Black Keys front man Dan Auerbach to unleash some crunching monster blues-rock riffage on his second solo album, “Waiting on a Song”: it’s not happening.
Auerbach, now living in Nashville, had other ideas. With help from songwriters such as John Prine and Pat McLaughlin and guitarists such as Duane Eddy and Mark Knopfler, he’s punched out 10 concise pop-rock nuggets.
Every song here will go through your head at one time or another, probably after a single listen, much as those early 1970s one-hit wonder AM radio hits do.
Prine and McLaughlin helped with the title track, which describes waiting for the inspiration that will become a song to strike, and results in the creation of a catchy, fully formed song about writing a song.
Ostensibly a testament of romantic fidelity, “Stand By My Girl” instead reveals a man fearing for his life: “I’m gonna stand by my girl/Because she’ll kill me if I don’t.” This tale of terror unfolds amid a full-blown arrangement sporting a peppy female backing chorus, spiraling guitars and a chugging horn section.
“King of a One Horse Town” features Eddy’s trademark full-bodied guitar twang to underscore its atmosphere of wistfulness and regret, while Mark Knopfler’s perky riffs bring a welcome Traveling Wilburys lilt to the derivative, inane and completely irresistible “Shine on Me.” One listen to the latter and you’ll be hopelessly hooked.
In short, Auerbach completely confounds expectations on “Waiting for a Song.”
He reveals himself to be a top-flight tunesmith with an ear for the funky bass lines, snappy horn charts, sassy backing vocals and other production touches that once infested AM radios everywhere, yet he doesn’t allow his affection for the AM radio era to descend into nostalgia.
“Waiting on a Song” sounds fresh even with its retro dalliances, and is never anything less than delightful.
Auerbach will appear backed by McLaughlin at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on June 13. The event will be live-streamed on The Grammy Museum’s Facebook page.
