The band approached writing and recording differently than on previous albums, as they entered the studio without having written any material and deliberated longer on how to structure songs.

After struggling to translate the slower songs from Brothers to a live setting, the band wrote more uptempo, hook-laden tracks for El Camino.

The album's cover art depicts a minivan similar to one the group toured in early in their career, but in an inside joke, they named the record after the El Camino muscle car.

From 2001 to 2009, the Black Keys experienced underground success, but after the release of their critically acclaimed sixth studio album, Brothers, the group achieved a commercial breakthrough.

"[5] El Camino was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, at Easy Eye Sound Studio, which was opened by guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach in mid-2010 after he relocated from the group's long-time hometown of Akron, Ohio.

Seeing how big the shows were getting, feeling like people were paying attention, kind of made me anxious, and I think that's part of the reason [El Camino's] songs are so fast.

[9] The band hired Danger Mouse to co-produce the record with them, based on their experience with him producing their 2008 album Attack & Release and the single "Tighten Up".

[14] The band recorded using a Quad-8 mixing console that was first installed in Nashville's Creative Workshop studio in 1969 and later bought by Auerbach from a man in North Carolina.

During the sessions, the band listened to playback of their progress on a speaker they purchased from Muscle Shoals Sound Studio after the last day of recording Brothers.

[18] El Camino follows the Black Keys' garage rock style but places less emphasis on blues than the group's previous records.

[21] In contrast to some of the slower, quieter tracks from Brothers, the songs on El Camino are more uptempo and employ more hooks and guitar riffs.

[22][23][24] During the tour for Brothers, the Black Keys realized that many of that album's songs were too slow to effectively translate to a live setting, leading them to write more fast-paced material for El Camino.

"[5] Realizing halfway through the recording sessions that all the songs they had written to that point were uptempo, the group decided to maintain the faster pace as a common thread throughout the album.

[26] Andy Gill of The Independent said of the title, "it's a nod to the pilgrimage of dues-paying, the months of one-night-stands in tiny Midwest towns which hone raw talent into rock'n'roll gold.

"[11]The vehicle in the cover image is a Plymouth Grand Voyager similar to the navy blue one that the group toured in for the first year and a half of their career.

"[28] The interior sleeve booklet for the album features images of various vans from Akron, Ohio,[26] including those produced under the brands Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler, and Dodge.

[32] Prior to the release of El Camino, promotional copies were limited to a small pressing of just 50, given mostly to music labels and the Black Keys' manager.

[3] Warner Bros. Records COO Livia Tortella elaborated that "They've latched onto that idea at a time when the real spirit of alternative has, in many ways, gone away from our music.

[3][36] On October 9, 2011, the band placed an ad in the Akron Beacon Journal advertising their used tour van as a "1994 El Camino" for sale.

[18] A week prior to the release date, the duo decided to stream five tracks from El Camino on their website after the album leaked online.

[3] The Black Keys appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on December 3, 2011, for the second time that year, and they performed "Lonely Boy" and "Gold on the Ceiling".

"[64] Melissa Maerz of Entertainment Weekly gave the record an "A−", writing that the group "make a small-room racket that sounds massive enough for a bigger-is-better world".

[58] James Lachno of The Daily Telegraph rated the album four-stars-out-of-five, praising Danger Mouse for "sharpen[ing] up the sweet, melodic choruses that offset the duo's unholy racket" and give each song a "timeless quality, as suited to a Seventies mid-west saloon as a students' indie disco".

Describing the music, he said, "The riffs are glam-nasty, the lyrics sublimely knuckleheaded, the basslines nimble and bombastic, the mood frivolous and fun and unabashedly corny.

"[62] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone rated the album four stars and called it their "grandest pop gesture yet, augmenting dark-hearted fuzz blasts with sleekly sexy choruses and Seventies-glam flair".

[68] The album has been certified: triple-platinum in Canada;[69] double-platinum in Australia,[70] New Zealand,[71] and the U.S.;[72] platinum in the United Kingdom,[73] France,[74] and Ireland;[75] and gold in Belgium and the Netherlands.

[81] Spin placed it at number 36 on its list of the 50 best albums of the year, writing, "Glam-blooze guitar, poppy melodies, and hockey-rink keyboards fit the Keys like vintage denim.

[97] After tickets went on sale, The Black Keys' concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City sold out in 15 minutes,[98] resulting in the addition of a second date at the venue to satisfy demand.

[107] Lemieux's video, which was projected onto a white sheet at the stage's rear, incorporated black-and-white footage of junkyards, deserts, and open highways.

[105][108] Carney explained that the band was aiming for a retro aesthetic, saying, "We kind of wanted to make the whole stage look like an old-school rock 'n' roll show, as much as possible.