Remember That Song: Tighten Up
The Black Keys dropped this certified rock and roll banger 14 years ago.
In the decade prior to the April 2010 release of hit single Tighten Up, The Black Keys had never experienced a hit.
They’d certainly experienced moderate success for an indie band, selling hundreds of thousands of records over five releases. They were a successful touring act, selling out smaller clubs and featuring midway down the billing at major festivals.
I had been a fan of The Black Keys for about seven years at this point. I first heard them on an Epitaph Records’ Punk-O-Rama 8 compilation of all places. The punk label co-distributed the band’s Fat Possum release Thickfreakness in Europe, and included the title track on their annual Punk-O-Rama release. The track was a low-fi-ish blues track, featured alongside punk songs from The Distillers, Hot Water Music and Rancid.
Back then, The Black Keys were a straight up blues-rock duo. The live shows were just the two of them, Dan Auerbach on guitar, Patrick Carney on drums. I saw them twice in this iteration of the band in 2004, at The Black Cat club in Washington, DC and in the Mojave Tent at Coachella.
Needless to say, Tighten Up was a change. Its rock and roll charged sound changed the audience and trajectory of the band forever.
How Tighten Up Happened
The recording of Tighten Up and its album Brothers came in 2009 amidst a bit of personal strife. Auerbach recorded a solo album Keep it Hid, an ironic title considering Carney was not made aware of the solo effort. Carney was livid at the effort, afraid that the band was on the verge of breaking up. He was also going through the end stages of a failed marriage and drinking heavily.
After Carney called the marriage quits, the band members made up and headed to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record what would become Brothers.
Tighten Up became the first single from the album, officially released on April 23rd, 2010.
The first time I heard Tighten Up was on SiriusXM Alt Nation.
It was a Saturday morning sometime late that Spring, and I was driving away from my house in Washington, DC.
When the DJ mentioned a brand new song by the band, I was intrigued. This was not a radio band, certainly not one played on more mainstream outlets like this one. The Black Keys, next to Muse, Phoenix and Cage the Elephant? Okay then.
Sounds completely natural now, but back then they had not yet been played alongside these artists on a mainstream outlet.
We all know how the song starts. The bass-line and shaking bells, followed by the drum, guitar and whistle intro. Then with the transition to Aeurbach’s vocals, it turns into a certified rock and roll banger. The one you instinctively turn up and bob your head along with the beat.
For me, it was one of the top songs that summer, and one of the top albums of the year. I purchased the album on iTunes a month later (this was still a whole year before Spotify launched), and it was my top played song and album that year.
It’s not a song with particularly compelling lyrics. Perhaps a vague ode to a cheating girlfriend? The music video errs towards humor and irony, featuring fictional versions of the band member’s sons fighting over a girl followed by the band members fighting each other over the girl’s mother.
Still from the video for Tighten Up, credit The Black Keys/Warner Brothers.
But if the lyrics weren’t anything special, the music was highlight. Catchy, rocking and best played loud.
Tighten Up would reach number one on the United States Alternative Airplay and Rock Songs charts by years’ end. It would also reach Platinum status in the United States, win an MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Video, and win a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
The band went on to upgrade from small clubs to headlining gigs at arenas and amphitheaters. They retained their official status as a duo, but added touring musicians to better fit the new rock and roll sound. Over the next two years, they played numerous festivals, now at or near headline status, including Bonnaroo, Outside Lands and the Virgin Mobile Festival.
Revisiting Tighten Up 14 Years Later
The Black Keys have been in the news lately, and it’s not all positive. The band suddenly cancelled a headlining arena tour, with much speculation on lackluster ticket and album sales after the release of their latest, Ohio Players. They parted ways with their management group in the wake of the cancellation.
Indeed, the band has become somewhat of a curiosity after almost a decade and a half of successful singles, heavy commercial licensing and more personal strife. And in the midst of the success, they seem to have aged out of relevance with a younger generation.
To be fair, the marketing of their latest album Ohio Players did touch on the aging out of prominence with younger listeners. There were self-effacing spots featuring interactions with Gen-Zers with a running joke about The Black Keys being a dad band. They’re fully aware.
But at the same time, the failure of the scheduled arena tour indicates they have not quite reached the point of becoming a hot retro act. The band seems to be stuck in the middle of relevance and retro.
But Tighten Up still hits a rock and roll sweet spot when revisited 14 years later.
When I hear the song, I’m carried back to that carefree day 14 years ago. I have no idea where I was going, maybe just to the grocery store. But it was a warm, late Spring day, I was driving a Jeep Wrangler, and had all the windows down.
This blues rock band of which I’d been a fan for a while now was suddenly transitioning into a full fledged rock and roll band, and it worked. Not every band can make that transition so seamlessly.
Of course, I never saw The Black Keys in a club again. They’d go on to sell millions of records, and upgrade to much bigger venues. Not being a huge fan of shows in arenas, I avoided their headline shows, but did catch them headlining the Virgin Mobile Freefest in Columbia, Maryland.
At that show, they showcased the transition right before our eyes. The first six songs were just the two of them, playing their older blues rock songs. Then a few touring musicians joined them on stage, and they broke into Everlasting Light, the first track on Brothers. From there, a majority of the set was from Brothers.
Say what you will about the overwhelming number of commercials they licensed, the 2024 tour debacle and their personal lives. I still maintain that Tighten Up is a certified rock and roll banger, that will live on forever.