Rubber Factory

Rubber Factory is the third studio album by American rock duo the Black Keys. It was self-produced by the band and was released on September 7, 2004, on Fat Possum Records. The album was recorded in an abandoned tire-manufacturing factory in the group's hometown of Akron, Ohio. Rubber Factory received positive reviews and was the band's first album to chart on the Billboard 200 in the United States, reaching number 143. Recording and production The Black Keys recorded their first two studio albums in drummer Patrick Carney's basement. The building was sold by its landlord, forcing them to find a new location for their third album. They decided to set up a makeshift studio in a dilapidated factory in their hometown of Akron, Ohio. Built by General Tire to manufacture rubber tires, the factory stood on the corner of S Seiberling Street and Little Cuyahoga River in the East Akron neighborhood. General Tire closed the factory in 1982, though space in the building was being leased out. The band rented the entire second floor of the building for $500 per month, and dubbed their workspace "Sentient Sound". Carney said of the experience:Carney called the factory "not really ideal in any way. It's too far away. It's on the second story. It's hot as hell. You can't open the windows. The acoustics are horrible." For recording, the group used a mixing console that Carney purchased on eBay from a former sound technician for Canadian rock band Loverboy. Frequent malfunctions with the console stretched the sessions nearly five months; the group ultimately left the console behind in the factory after completing Rubber Factory. The album was recorded on recycled tape provided by the band's record label Fat Possum from its studios in Mississippi. In 2009, Carney said the factory was to be removed, and it was demolished in 2010. The vacant lot in which the factory used to stand appears on the cover of the band's 2011 single "Lonely Boy".