This critique represents the personal views of blogger Adeline Lennon. Lennon’s views do not necessarily reflect those of The Royal Page staff as a whole.

The Arcs’ debut album Yours, Dreamily sounds surprisingly similar to a Black Keys album. Or maybe not so surprisingly, considering that the group is Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach’s side project.

Artists have been increasingly delving into various side projects in recent years to satisfy their artistic inclinations outside of their band. Other examples are Fleet Foxes’ Joshua Tillman (Father John Misty), Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard (The Postal Service), or even The Jonas Brothers’ Nick Jonas (Nick Jonas and the Administration).

When the other half of the Black Keys, Patrick Carney, broke his shoulder on tour, Auerbach’s latest side project blossomed. Though The Arcs is entirely separate from the Black Keys, it doesn’t seem to experiment or explore too much outside of Auerbach’s typical smooth and catchy rock tunes.

Regardless, Yours, Dreamily is an impressive feat. “Pistol Made of Bones” manages to make longing for an ex-lover sound dark and edgy. “Everything You Do (You Do For You)” makes a dying relationship sound alluring and edgy.

In fact, Auerbach seems to be able to make absolutely any situation just edgy enough. That does seem to be a Black Keys specialty, after all.

However, the album still maintains a relaxed feel, perfect for a lazy summer afternoon. Subtle introductions of mariachi elements and falsettos pace the album’s otherwise garage rock-meets-jazz style sounds.

Yours, Dreamily sounds like an awful lot like a Black Keys album. But that’s okay, because I like Black Keys albums.