The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, December 7,2011 - 5A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, December 7, 2D11 - 5A Snappy 'Happy Endings' These are the Black Keys. This is a photo of them. Black Keys rev it up Band learns to walk 'El Camino' on latest smash By KAVI SHEKHAR PANDEY SeniorArts Editor As Dan Auerbach howls, "I got a love that keeps me waiting" in "Lonely Boy," fans of Akron's finest (sorry, Lebron) realize how lucky they are to have a The Black love that doesn't - it's been a Keys mere 18 months El Camino since the Black Keys dropped Nonesuch Brothers, and their new album El Camino marks their third release since 2008. The breadth to which their fan base has grown is as remarkable as their work ethic - with the Black Keys as the last vestiges of unadulterated, plug-it-in-and-jam rock'n'roll, it's clear why jabronies and housewives rock out to them with equal abandon. But don't believe Auerbach's wails of being lonely for a sec- ond. The days of him and drum- mer Patrick Carney cranking out tunes in abandoned factories are long gone, and with a little help from their friends - a scorching bassist, booming backup singers and virtuoso producer Danger Mouse - the Black Keys have crafted the tightest record in their arsenal. El Camino turns on the after- burners from its first track, going from zero to 80 within the open- ing licks of the boisterous "Lonely Boy." Melding a firecracker of a riff with smashing set work by Carney, the song nails the one thing the Black Keys had always been missing - music that gets people to bust a move. The Black Keys maintain this level of amplified energy through- out the album - it's still their signature soul and freewheeling vivacity, taken with a few cases of Red Bull. "Dead and Gone" drives relentlessly, pulsating with the harmony of a mighty chorus. The followingtrack, "Gold onthe Ceil- ing" is a24-carat cut of blues rock, featuring lacerating riffs and searing, Jack White-esque solos. The band has racked up a lot of mileage, prompting El Camino to sputter in a few songs. "Hell of a Season" and "Sister" lie among the pack of fairly forget- table tracks, spearheaded by the unbearably screechy "Run Right Back." The missteps aren't as lethal as the sleepiness that sunk their last collaboration with Dan- ger Mouse, Attack and Release, but the band still has some fine- tuning to do before completing an immortal album. El Camino is buoyed by "Little Black Submarine," the rare song in the collection in which the band stops to catch its breath - albeit a brief one. Auerbach begins with a heart-wrenching serenade, emotive yet uncom- plicated, before launching into a throttling barrage of frenzied solos, alongside Carney, who lets loose with his best Jon Bonham impersonation. Oozing with bombast and bravado, the song is the Black Keys at the pinnacle of their emotional and instrumen- tal ingenuity. Is it their "Stairway to Heaven"? Their "Runaway"? Time will tell. The saviors of modern rock'n'roll as we know it, the Black Keys unleash their pent-up energy throughout El Camino in a crisp 38 minutes. As the album comes to its thunderous conclu- sion with "Mind Eraser," Auer- bach moans, "Don't let it be over" on top of a slap-happy bass line and Carney's primal thrashing. Don't worry guys, we want the tunes to keep coming too. If you play it, we will listen. By KAYLA UPADHYAYA Daily Arts Writer "Happy Endings" had a rough start last year, as it tried to reju- venate the tired sitcom setup of a group of young adults living ****. in nonsensi- cally spacious Happy apartments in End a big city. Nev- ertheless, the Season Two show managed Midseason to attract a cult following, Wednesdays most likely due at19:30 p.m. to the strong ABC comedic back- ground of its cast: Two members are Upright Citizens Brigade veterans (Adam Pally and Casey Wilson), and Eliza Coupe gained popularity as the wickedly insen- sitive Dr. Denise "Jo" Mahoney on "Scrubs." Even so, most crit- ics were surprised when ABC renewed "Happy Endings" for a second season. The start of the second season proves this show truly deserved its renewal. It sticks to a simple yet effective formula, managing to pair together any combination of these characters and make it work, something few shows pull off in their early seasons. "Happy Endings" is different from the typical friends-in-the- big-city sitcom in that there prob- ably won't be any inter-ensemble relationship drama or love tri- angles. Max (Pally) is gay, Jane (Coupe) and Brad (Damon Way- ans Jr., "The Other Guys") are married and Dave and Alex are split for good (hopefully). Very few sitcoms pull off trying out romantic pairings of main char- acters, but the writers of "Happy Endings" don't have to worry about these balancing issues. Instead, they have the freedom to bring on countless noteworthy "You wanted to be an Olympic pole vaulter?!" guest stars to play the love inter- This season has also shown ests of the main cast, which is a vast improvement in physical always fun for the audience. The comedy. The days of cheap roller- writers give a knowing wink to blade-wedding crasher moments the lack of Ross and Rachel-style are gone, and they're replaced relationships in "The Code War," by smoother, simpler scenes - in which Alex starts crushing on including the juxtaposition of Max and does all sorts of bizarre Penny's ice cream-fueled break- things to try to win his affection, down against the backdrop of an like buying him a harmonica. authentic 1920s housewarming party and the shellfish bloodbath in the season premiere. The Hal- No benefits for loween episode similarly high- lights physical comedy with Max these friends, and Penny's slightly creepy moth- er-and-baby-conjoined costume getup. Not needing to rely on a par- As former lovers, Dave and ticular gimmick or style to stand Alex, Zachary Knighton ("Flash- out, "Happy Endings" is refresh- Forward") and Elisha Cuthbert ingly uncomplicated. It leans on ("24") used to be the show's weak- the strong chemistry of its actors est link, with comedic timing and upbeat, well-crafted dialogue that was never as precise as their thatsets it apart from many ofthis castmates in season one. Their fall's new sitcoms, whose leads disastrous wedding-day breakup pump out irrelevant jokes amid catalyzed the show, and much of contrived lines. the first season focused on them. As long as "Happy Endings" But the writers have figured out sticks to its formula and contin- Dave and Alex work best when ues with its zippy pacing, it will they're not in scenes together, stand out against similar sitcoms. and the focus has switched to the The premises aren't necessar- ensemble. This allows the whole ily groundbreaking, but the rapid- cast to prove its abilitiy, Dave to fire jokes and well-meshed cast do become a more engaging charac- the trick, making "Happy End- ter and Alex to have some hilari- ings" one of the most consistently ous lines. funny sitcoms this season. TV REVHW kLukewarm 'Hate' a "M Approximately 40 percent of every incoming PharmD class consists of former LSA students. By BRIANNE JOHNSON Daily Arts Writer If there's one thing a teenage girl cherishes more than her lip gloss collection and manuscripts of "Twilight" fan fiction, it's her reputa- tion. No one Hate My understands this as well as Teenage FOX, whose Daughter new sitcom, "I Hate My Teen- Pilot age Daughter," Wednesdays invites door- at9:30 p.m. slamming, "misunder- FX stood" adoles- cents (and their moms) to revel in the desperately narcissistic jour- ney to teen-queen social royalty. A disappointingly dowdy and tired Jaime Pressly ("My Name is Earl") leads as Annie Watson, * a naive conservative mother to monster-in-a-training-bra Sophie (Kristi Lauren, "Living the Dream"). As her daughter's nature is revealed to be one halo short of angelic, Annie and best friend Nikki (Katie Finner- an, "You've Got Mail"), whose daughter (Aisha Dee, "The Sad- dle Club") is part of a terrible teenage twosome, are faced with an impossible mission: to punish their children. Mocked by unin- volved husbands, a smug uncle and a snooty principal, Annie and Nikki must rely on each other in navigating the unchart- ed territory of mother-daughter relationships. Though the intensely ste- reotypical portrayal of a raging teenage population is obviously an intentional exaggeration, "I Hate My Teenage Daughter" falls short of social satire, lack- ing the biting humor that makes a viewer want to laugh along. Instead, the characters' obses- sions with reputation seem more like a screenwriter's half-assed attempt at mocking female inse- curities. The sexist stereotypes are endless: skimpy outfits, com- plete lack of sports knowledge, manic fixation on weight and desperation for male attention. Due to their lack of credibility, Annie and Nikki fail to win over viewers - their superficial antics mirror the stereotypes repre- sented in their daughters. Refer- ring to each other as a "pathetic" working mom and a "lazy, stay- at-home whore," the women voluntarily sacrifice their posi- tions as respectable role models. Because the mothers seem to vie for acceptance just as much as the teens, viewers (and the characters) are unable to regard anything the women say with authority. Yet the show does offer a fairly consistent amount of typical sit- com laughs, even if nothilarious- ly creative. While Pressly seems a bit unnatural in such a con- servative role (the only playboy Annie Watson gets on her knees for is Jesus), Finneran glows with a natural comedic timing. Charming in her self-depreca- tion, indulgence in desserts and general oblivion, Nikki is the perfect sidekick to her rather plain best friend. Nobody likes a teenager, anyway. The two, dedicated to drown- ing their daughters in dancing parent-induced embarrassment, provide a bouncy dynamic that ushers in the majority of the show's comedy. A necessary break from the draining annoy- ance that is the remaining cast, the motherly duo deserves the attention of a program otherwise dedicated to the woes of teenage girl-dom. "I Hate My Teenage Daugh- ter" presents two important les- sonsthat all (especiallyyou, FOX) must learn: First, there's nothing - not even a manicured adoles- cent witch - that can't be fixed with a healthy dose of embar- rassment. Second, if the deci- sion is made to title a program, "I Hate My Teenage Daughter," don't be surprised when the audi- ence hates her, too. So. You want one good reason to earn a pharmacy degree from the U 0 University of Michiga? Here are 12 good reasons, for starters: 1. Financial support unequalled by any other U.S. pharmacy school. 2. Outstanding pay. 3. Job security in economically uncertain times. 4. Unlimited opportunities to improve people's lives. 5. Unparalleled career choices. 6. Continuous growth potential. 7. Life and career mobility. 8. The power to apply medical knowledge at the forefront of technological innovation. 9. Membership in an influential alumni network spanning the globe. 10. The prestige of owning a degree from one of America's top-ranked pharmacy schools. 11. One-to-one learning with world-renowned faculty. 12. A small college environment within a major, academic institution. Choosing the right career requires equal parts knowl- edge, insight, and planning. If you are weighing your career options, please be sure to attend one of the pre- pharmacy counseling sessions listed below. To learn more about Michigan's PharmD Program, visit the College Web site at www.umich.edu/-pharmacy. Or contact the U-M College of Pharmacy at 734-764- 7312 or at mich.pharm.admissions@umich.edu. Pre-Pharmacy Sessions at the U-M College of Pharmacy: Academic Year 2011-2012: Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011- 4- pm, Phtaracy Building, Room 11)19 Thuday, Oct. 20, 2011 - 4-5 pm C.C. Little Building, Room 1567 Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 - 4-5 pm, CC Littlei Building, Room 1567 Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011 - 4-5 pm, C.C. Little Building, Room 1567 Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 - 4-5 pi, C.C. Little Building, Room 1567 Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012 - 4- lnt, C.C, Little Building, Room 1567 Tuesday, Mar. 27, 2012 - Room 1567 Friday, Apr. 6. 2012 -4- Room 15617 4- pm, C.C. Little Building, 5 pin, CC Little Building, Your future never looked bn'ghter.