Legend has it the Black Keys had to record their second album in Carney's basement just a few days after signing to label Fat Possum because they spent their advance on rent. That was no problem, though – it's where they recorded their debut anyway – and the duo laid down the entire album in one 14-hour session and self-produced it the same day. The result is an exercise in immediacy but one that feels uncannily timeless. Thickfreakness captures the Keys during a very specific era in their career, a time when they were brimming with potential and armed with a more muscular and assured sound than on The Big Come Up.
