搬运译Pitchfork评the Black Keys 2019年专辑《Let’s Rock》

搬运自：微信公众号【评论搬一堆】（在原文基础上添加了英语原文与排版调整）

翻译：Lucia C

校对：Tyler Smith

排版：Peter D

When the Black Keys look back, they won’t have regrets about striking while the iron was hot. After the mammoth success of their sixth album Brothers, which polished the band’s raw blues-rock enough for the radio, the duo raced out two more albums, including 2011’s even slicker El Camino. They headlined arenas and festivals, touring ceaselessly while licensing their music to seemingly any brand interested—which, for a time, felt like all of them. They were ubiquitous, and their sound became so permanently embedded in the airwaves that casual listeners may not have noticed they’ve been gone.

他们的第六张专辑《Brothers（兄弟）》将乐队原汁原味的布鲁斯摇滚打磨成了能被电台播放的效果，并取得了巨大成功，这引得他们迅速发行了两张新专辑，包括2011年更加熟练的专辑《El Camino》。他们成为了不少体育场演唱会和音乐节的首席表演者，一边不停地巡演，一边将他们的音乐授权给几乎每个感兴趣的品牌----那时，似乎每个品牌都对他们的音乐很感兴趣。他们遍布各处，并且音乐在电台里长久地存留着，以至于一些随性的听众甚至没有注意到他们不见了。

The duo’s new “Let’s Rock” follows their last effort Turn Blue by five years, the longest gap of their career. As the band tells it, they burned out, though during their time off Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney both continued making music at their typically relentless clip, just not with each other. Carney produced records for Michelle Branch, Tobias Jesso Jr., Wild Belle, and others, while Auerbach helmed records by the Pretenders and Cage the Elephant and dropped a leisurely solo album.

这个双人乐队的新专《Let’s Rock》出于他们的上一张作品《Turn Blue（变蓝）》发行的五年之后，这可以说是他们音乐生涯的最大空档。据乐队所说，他们想歇一歇了，不过在这段时间Dan Auerbach和Patrick Carney都继续做着音乐，保持着他们惯常的高产速度，只不过没有和对方一起而已。Carney为Michelle Branch、 Tobias Jesso Jr.、Wild Belle等音乐人制作了唱片，而Auerbach负责了The Pretenders和Cage the Elephants的唱片，并发行了一张较为随意的个人专辑。

For some bands, that time apart might have yielded an epiphany that reshaped their approach. But the Black Keys have never much valued change. They’re focused, workmanlike, and committed to what works. As a result, “Let’s Rock” plays exactly like the record they might have rushed out right after Turn Blue.

对于一些乐队来说，这么长的一段休整期也许会带来灵感，引他们对音乐作出改变。然而the Black Keys从来都不喜欢改变。他们如工匠般专注、投入于适合他们的音乐。因此，就算他们在《Turn Blue》发行后立马发行了一张新专辑，《Let’s Rock》和它也不会有太大差别。

This time, they are working without Danger Mouse, the producer whose modern/retro fusion helped prime the band for their crossover. His fingerprints in particular were all over the psychedelic hodgepodge of Turn Blue and its kitchen-sink strings and keyboards. “Let’s Rock,” in turn, opts for a streamlined approach: just Auerbach, Carney, a pair of backing vocalists (Ashley Wilcoxson and Leisa Hans) and as many overdubs as it takes to get the job done.

事实上，Danger Mouse的粉饰并没有为乐队的音乐增色或减分太多。但没有了他，乐曲有了更多的空间给吉他乐段，《Let’s Rock》对此也并不吝啬。“Shine a Little Light”开头便涌入了有力的吉他声，像是那种有个男人坐在椅子上的老音响广告，整个客厅都被音浪震动。有关追求刺激和惨痛跌落的“Lo/Hi”甚至更加吸引人，带有纯粹的潇洒气势。

In truth, Danger Mouse’s window dressings neither added nor detracted all that much from the band’s sound. His absence leaves more room for riffs, and “Let’s Rock” doesn’t skimp on them. “Shine a Little Light” kicks off with a torrent of brawling guitars, the embodiment of those old speaker ads with the guy in a chair blowing away his living room. “Lo/Hi,” about reckless thrills and brutal comedowns, is even more undeniable, pure leather-jacketed swagger.

这次，他们不再与制作人Danger Mouse合作，当时就是他的现代/复古风格融合帮助乐队主流化。他的制作在《Turn Blue》的迷幻风大杂烩、现实主义的拨弦与键盘中都有体现。然而，《Let’s Rock》却有着改进了的风格：只有Auerbach、Carney、一对和声（Ashley Wilcoxson和Leisa Hans），以及足够多的加录（overdubs）。

Most of “Let’s Rock” hits its mark, but sometimes the band cribs so overtly from their influences that it feels like cheating off of a test. The guitars on “Walk Across the Water” ape the suave glide of T. Rex’s “Jeepster," while “Sit Around and Miss You” lifts its lick so shamelessly from Stealers Wheel’s “Stuck in the Middle With You” that it’s hard to hear it without picturing Michael Madsen slicing off a dude’s ear. Elsewhere the influences are subtler—shades of Steely Dan in the amplified soft-rock of “Breaking Down,” a hint of the Isley Brothers in the nimble lick of “Tell Me Lies.”

《Let’s Rock》中大部分的音乐都很优秀，然而有时乐队会模仿影响了他们的音乐人，太过公然，像是考试作弊一样。“Walk Across the Water”中的吉他模仿了T. Rex的“Jeepster”中柔和的滑弦，而“Sit Around and Miss You”的节奏则恬不知耻地抄袭了Stealers Wheel的“Stuck in the Middle With You”，以至于听的时候难以不想到Michael Madsen削下一只耳朵的画面（译者注：这首歌来自电影《落水狗》中的此情节）。在其它曲子中，这种风格影响就不那么明显了----“Breaking Down”的轻柔摇滚乐中有几丝Steely Dan的风格，“Tell Me Lies”轻快的节奏中有一点the Isley Brothers的感觉。

If none of those reference points are especially hip, that seems to be by design. “Let’s Rock” feels like a deliberate retreat from the limelight, where the Black Keys were always an odd fit anyway. Ambitious? No. Effective? Swish. Just as the album art for Brothers, with its matter-of-fact text, downplayed expectations, “Let’s Rock” is upfront about its meat-and-potatoes aspirations. This is an album by the Black Keys called “Let’s Rock.” It does.

如果这些风格看起来不那么时髦，那似乎正是乐队的本意。《Let’s Rock》感觉像是有意地从闪光灯下撤出----反正the Black Keys也从未真正地融入主流。有野心的？不是。有效果的？非常。就像《Brothers》的专辑封面，写着事实性的文字，有着让人意外的简单。《Let’s Rock》坦诚而朴实的目的表现得非常明显。这是Black Keys乐队一张名为《Let’s Rock（一起摇滚吧）》的专辑。它也的确做到了。