IFLTS: '10 A.M. Automatic,' The Black Keys

'10 A.M. Automatic,' The Black Keys
From 2004's 'Rubber Factory'

Yeah, yeah -- enough about the White Stripes already. Sure they have style and panache, and a chick drummer who keeps time about as well as a Canal Street "Rolecks," but for my money there's only one white rock 'n' blues duo out there: The Black Keys. And on no other song do these scrawny guys from Ohio show their metal than on '10 A.M. Automatic.' If there were ever a song that made me want to move to Akron -- a city through which the infamously combustible Cuyahoga River flows -- this is the one.

The fact that 24-year-old Daniel Auerbach can elicit this kind of soul and emotion out of not only his ragged, weathered voice, but also his duct-taped Strat shocks me every time. I have to squint at the album cover to remember that this isn't some old, sweaty Delta Bluesman wheezing out the last of a long night's aches and pains, but a guy who, according to their bio, "mowed lawns for a slumlord" in the suburban Midwest before embarking on a musical career with his preternaturally gawky drummer friend.

With this tune, the Keys at once channel blues, indie rock and even a little classic Hendrix, kicking out an instant classic -- one of 2004's best tracks -- and certainly one that will set the mood any time you're having one of those hazy nights.

Michael Fayne is a Web producer for AOL Music and Spinner. He's not sure what the future holds, but knows it will somehow include guacamole.

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