The Black Keys - “Beautiful People (Stay High)”

SXSW 2024 - OEB Score: 10; Popularity Index: 10

Pairs Well With…The White Stripes, Cold War Kids, Cage The Elephant

SXSW keynote speakers and what is the closest thing to a headliner on the 1,000+ artist roster, The Black Keys roll through Austin this year supporting their twelfth full-length Ohio Players. If the two preview tracks, “Beautiful People (Stay High)” and a cover of William Bell’s “I Forgot to Be Your Lover”, are a full indicator, look for Ohio Players to be one of the most soulful contributions in The Black Keys’ catalog. Soul in the classic sense, lush and smooth but with a twist of the duo’s natural blues-rock demeanor. Twenty years into their career, The Black Keys sound fully amped and committed on both tracks, but the hooky “Beautiful People” is especially refreshing and one of the tracks the will be looked at as the tops in retrospectives years from now. It’s also a good example of a band that knows what they are the best at, continually mining for gold within (maybe!) the later stages of their career together. (Kevin McStravick)