The Black Lips formed in 1999 in Dunwoody Georgia. Current members include Cole Alexander, Jared Swilley, Ian Saint Pe and Joe Bradly. This is their forth album, "Good Bad Not Evil" which was released in September 2007.
The Black Lips sound a lot like The Kinks. The major influences are pretty obvious.
The album opens with two songs that set the tone for the album. The first song is called "I Saw a Ghost". The guitar riffs on this track kind of remind me of a sort of psychedelic rockabilly. The fairly medium tempo song is a good setup for the up tempo follower. The second track "O Katrina" has the band begging, "Oh no whys it gotta be me." Considering the release date of the album, I have to assume that the Katrina they are referencing is Hurricane Katrina. Watching the horror as it appears on television and asking: "Oh Katrina why you gotta be mean?"
The third track on the album sticks out like a sore thumb. "Veni Vidi Vici" is probably the most well know song from the album. It was used in a cell phone commercial. I think it was Virgin Mobile. (I found it.)Which is actually kind of amusing. I never would of thought that a company would use a song that suggests religion will be the cause of World War 3, to sell phones. Especially in the United States. I think I'm sick of the song because of hearing it so much, but it just doesn't seem to fit the rest of the album.
The song I decided to upload was "It Feels Alright". A song about Karma, the main message being "Think twice before you roll the dice". Take a listen, a majority of the album sounds a lot like this one. Also if you're in the right mood, it's catchy as hell.
The next couple of songs are what could vaguely be called love songs. "Navajo" is about a Indian girl who stole the boys heart, and all the wonderful times they had together. Then the chorus hits and a list of possible tribes commences. They love her, but aren't quite sure what tribe she belongs too. Good thing it doesn't matter. "Lock and Key" is about a love affair between a interracial couple that needs to stay secret because of the town in which they reside. The final line serves as a warning to the other if they get caught: "When I'm shunned, you're mute. Stop making sound".
If "Veni Vidi Vici" was the pure psychedelic track on the album, "How Do You Tell A Child That Someone Has Died" is the pure rockabilly song. Actually, it goes past rockabilly and becomes country music. Unfortunately, its the depressing form of country music. It even has the cliche guitar twang that annoys the hell out of me.
Luckily, the album returns to form afterwards. "Bad Kids" was a close runner up as far as posting to the blog goes. The rest of the albums sound stays fairly constant, but nothing really stands out.
I really do like this album, because it gives you an old style of rock with a slightly modern twist. As much as I don't really want every song on an album to sound exactly the same, GIANT leaps from a formula can make it seem sort of chaotic. That's the only real problem that I have with the album. I guess it would warrant somewhere around a 78/100. This album kind of became a mainstream breakthrough for them, so hopefully they improve more on following albums. (They released another album in 2009, but I haven't heard it in it's entirety. So no judgement yet.)
Buy the album here:
http://www.amazon.ca/Good-Bad-Evil-Black-Lips/dp/B000UE64TC
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/good-bad-not-evil/id263050989
http://www.viceland.com/vicerecords/store_black_lips.php
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