Ohio's favourite two-piece, The Black Keys is comprised of Daniel Auerbach (vocals & guitar) and Patrick Carney (drums). The band's name was inspired by a close friend of the duo's who had schizophrenia; he called those who weren't quite right, 'Black Keys'. A double meaning lies in the fact that the black keys of a piano comprise a pentatonic minor scale when starting on E flat, which is often associated with blues and rock music.

The Black Keys sound consists of fuzzy guitars, soulful howlings of suffering and true romance, drums that sound like they are being attacked and filthy bluesy melodies. They count the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Beck amongst their influences and peers. Live, they have been compared to a 'distillation of the MC5 and early Fleetwood Mac with the intensity of a plane crash'. How a duo can make that much noise is uncertain, but the Black Keys make the White Stripes look like wimps. It is refreshing in today's musical climate that a truly great rock band can be on their fifth album without being overly hyped, or dropped by their label.

The band released their first album, The Big Come Up, in 2002, followed by Thickfreakness in 2003, and Rubber Factory in 2004. October 2005 saw the release of the DVD Live, recorded live at The Metro Theatre in Sydney, Australia March 18, 2005. The fourth release from the duo, Magic Potion, was released on September 4, 2006 in the UK and September 12, 2006 in the United States. It was their first recording for Nonesuch Records. According to an interview in Pitchfork Media, the band was collaborating on an album with Ike Turner, to be produced by Danger Mouse and released in 2007. However, this idea was rendered impossible by Turner's unexpected death in December 2007.

The band will release Danger Mouse produced, follow-up to Magic Potion on April 1 2008, entitled Attack & Release.