It’s lazy and easy to call the Black Keys counterparts of the White Stripes: on the surface, yes, they have parallels — their names are color-coded, they hail from theMidwest, they’re guitar-and-drum blues-rock duos — but the Black Keys have their very own thing going on. They are a tougher, rougher rock band, with a purist streak that seldom appears in the Stripes.

And, they just might be the best rock band of their generation.

Their new single, “Lonely Boy,” off the upcoming album “El Camino” (out December 6), echoes the reverberated, southern-rock melody that was so present on tunes from their previous record, “Brothers.” Specifically, this fresh jam sounds a lot like “Next Girl” and “Howling for You,” with its danceable beat and Dan Auerbach’s bluesy tenor.

This song is just another example of the Black Keys’ ability to maintain a rock ’n’ roll sound and still be mainstream.

How do they achieve this popularity and maintain rock integrity simultaneously?

Two words: their grooves.

Many rock bands today aren’t able to understand this dance phenomenon that has hitAmerica. Ever since the mid-1970’s, people have done away with rock n’ roll rebellion and taken a particular liking to pop music. Madonna, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, ABBA, Rihanna, *NSYNC—they’re all pop musicians, and usually produce music that you can move to.

The Black Keys, unlike many other rock bands at present, take their rock songs and putting them into a blender with pop beats and bluesy riffs. The final product is a cool mixture of rock and pop; people want to tap their feet and shake their groove things, but rock traditionalists know that these guys are still capturing the spirit of rock.

This isn’t to say that other rock bands haven’t done it. U2 brilliantly crafted a funky pop rock song with the acclaimed single “Mysterious Ways” off of Achtung Baby, Prince cleverly incorporated the very 80’s and very hip synthesizer harmonies to “Let’s Go Crazy” so it became a huge hit, and David Bowie and Freddie Mercury released one of the best pop-rock songs ever, “Under Pressure.” But most artists forget that rock integrity and mainstream success can coexist. It’s not like rock songs can’t contain the roaring guitar and the pounding drums along with a simple, catchy bass line and hook.

That’s what the Black Keys get. They know how to make rock music that people can dance to. Listen to their new single and watch their delightfully odd new video for it, which is simply a video of a black guy dancing to their song in the hallway of a rusty motel lobby.

Weird? Yes. Random? Yes. Awesome? Yes.

The best music out there? Yes. Absolutely, 100% yes.

The Black Keys are like the love children of Muddy Waters and the Bee Gees, if they somehow had a baby.