"Little Black Submarines" | ||||
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Single by The Black Keys | ||||
from the album El Camino | ||||
Released | October 8, 2012 | |||
Recorded | March – May 2011 at Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville, Tennessee | |||
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Label | Nonesuch | |||
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The Black Keys singles chronology | ||||
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"Little Black Submarines" is a song by American rock band The Black Keys. It is the fourth track from their 2011 studio album, El Camino, and was released as the album's fourth single on October 8, 2012. The song begins as a quiet acoustic ballad before transitioning to a loud, hard rock arrangement in the second half. Critics praised the song and called it one of the highlights from El Camino. The song was a success on rock radio, reaching number two on the Alternative Songs chart in the US and the Alternative Rock and Active Rock charts in Canada. The group filmed a music video with director Danny Clinch at the Springwater Supper Club and Lounge, a dive bar in Nashville, Tennessee. "Little Black Submarines" was certified gold in America.
"Little Black Submarines" originated as a song recorded by guitarist Dan Auerbach and producer Brian Burton that saw several alterations. The band recorded it "four or five different ways" before playing it in a sparse, acoustic arrangement. The group had a louder version of the song, but since they felt it "wasn't completely working", they spliced it after the acoustic version to create a mix with two contrasting sections. According to drummer Patrick Carney, the harder-rocking second half was the first time that the band played that arrangement. He said, "That whole ending is the first take we played, just figuring out what we're doing and riffing on that idea. That's why that part of the album feels the loosest. It's how Dan and I play. It's live in the studio, just guitar and drums, with the instruments bleeding into each other." Auerbach called the electric portion of "Little Black Submarines" the "closest representation of our live show than anything we've done before". The song concludes with a guitar solo that Auerbach described as his "jock-rock moment".