Fresh off of their tour promoting the 2010 album “Brothers,” The Black Keys has not left their fans waiting for new music. In October, the duo from Akron, Ohio announced “El Camino” would be arriving Dec. 6. With their breakout success with “Brothers,” the band has a lot of hype to live up to.The album wastes no time with things like subtlety or moderation; the thrilling “Lonely Boy,” which does an excellent job setting the mood for the rest of the album. From the start, there is a clear shift in tone for the band. The Black Keys have always had fun music, but matched each carefree, rocking track with a heavy-hearted blues one. In “El Camino,” it seems as though the band has no time for blues — just full-on rock and roll. For the first time, The Black Keys have made party music pure and simple.Perhaps the best way to describe the tone would be to liken it to the score of a heist movie. During tracks like “Dead and Gone” it is difficult not to imagine a figure with sunglasses emerging from a casino with a suitcase. It has loud, fast paced music for chase scenes, slower, heavier tracks for the tense scenes of interrogation and romance. The closing track “Mind Eraser” even seems like a perfect fit for the credits. Something about the album just screams Ocean’s Eleven — slick, confident and badass.

Despite all of its strengths, there is some aspeect just doesn’t feel important about “El Camino.” While musically it may be the most fun, lyrically it isn’t nearly as impactful as earlier albums “Brothers” or “Rubber Factory”. On the other hand, it feels like the band knows what “El Camino” is. It does not seem outrageous to wager that maybe the band just wanted some leave the heaviness and heartache to future albums and just enjoy themselves for the moment.

“El Camino” is by far The Black Keys’ most consistent record. In many of their past albums, it was often tempting to skip to the favorite tracks. “El Camino” however, has no clear best song. Each track seems as good as the last, which is quite an achievement. While there are no clear transitions between tracks to speak of, the album flows very well, making it difficult to just listen to one song. That more than anything should indicate the quality of the album.

“El Camino” may be all sugar and no substance, but boy is that sugar sweet.