Often with new albums, it takes a few listens for me to get into its groove. Four listens to the Black Keys latest release Drop Out Boogie, and I still couldn’t jive with it… until I got drunk. Dropout Boogie feels like a hodge-podge sound and as such, I couldn’t approach Drop out Boogie with just one cocktail, but a series of drinks. So, at the expense of my stomach I paired song to drink, numbered below.
1. Wild Child gets creepy if you watch the video. I watched the black Keys play Janitors in a Euphoria-esque high school and shot back a White Russian. It’s an easy drink to get into, and an easy song to bop your head to if you’re not listening too closely.
2. It Ain’t Over, themed around gambling addictions and heartbreaks. A gimlet made with a $10 bottle of Gordons felt appropriate. You keep them coming, hoping they’ll taste better with each sip, and they’re cheap enough you don’t mind. The gimlet, like the song, is best finished in 4 minutes.
3. Love of Money is the middle child of Wild Child and It Ain’t Over. Given my own love of money I had a Budweiser intermezzo, which like the song is good, but forgettable (but Budweiser used renewable energy, and we make sacrifices).
4. Your Team is Looking Good, merits little discussion. My limbs had gone gangly, but my head was in decent enough shape to know that only one thing could make it bearable: more gin. I poured out three shots and a dash of absinthe. The aptly titled ‘obituary’ can make any team look good, even when it just repeats “hey over there your team is looking good” for three minutes.
5. If you manage to get to Good Love, the album takes a turn. Good love is as hard to find as a good martini, but with a decent gin, and a twist of lemon even good love can be found.
6. By this point I’m not sure what they said during How Long, which might be why it was my favorite song in the album, a mellow track that pairs best with scotch and amaretto.
7. Burn the Damn thing down— the sort of song you’d expect from high schoolers who bought Four Loko and decide they’re badass. In response I drank a Cuba Libre, a drink I always resisted until I added a twist of lime and some Havana Club.
8. Happiness is, not their best lyrically. The sounds is immaculate, but the lyrics fall flat. So I drank a Cuba Libre sans lime— gets the job done, but at what cost?
9. Baby I’m Coming home was reminiscent of Delta Kream, their last release. Best enjoyed with a mint julep on a humid porch, pining for your lover whose working on a cargo ship for the summer.
10. Didn’t I love you: Dan Aurbach said he loved me! Blood and sand, let him down easy.
Brooks Shropshire is a horror writer from Boone NC. He’s currently searching for the best martini recipe. Send martini tips via Twitter @brookshrop.