Search - Black Lips :: 200 Million Thousand

The Black Lips Go Out on a Limb

D. C. Ober | Boston, MA | 05/05/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Black Lips are not for looking over the rainbow or beyond the horizon or over the next hill; the Black Lips are for looking back. This is true enough for their latest release, 200 Million Thousand, and if you are cursorily familiar with their older work then you know what to expect here: flower punk (their term) played with sloppy abandon and lyrics about cruising around in cluttered cars, taking drugs, drinking, and other miscellaneous fun. A strain of nostalgia runs throughout the album. For the Black Lips nostalgia is most easily distilled in the time of their late teens, when the novelty of owning a car hasn't worn off and the appropriate response to screwing up is to "drink some more beers."



The Black Lips's sense of nostalgia has never been a drawback for the band, and if anything it has been their reason for existing. Everything from their easily recognizable influences to flat mono sounding production values help transport the listener back a few decades. Some of the songs do this beautifully, such as the bluntly titled "Drugs," about picking up women and driving around aimlessly while, you guessed it, on drugs. Many decry the Black Lips's snot nosed brat personas, but with lyrics that begin with the line, "my nose is a-runny" the Lips have little qualms over this guise. And why should they, it's worked well so far? "Starting Over" melds the easy sentiments of beginning anew sung over the jangly guitars of the Byrds. Like many of the high points on this album, and there are quite a few, these songs give the appearance of an old classic, now forgotten, that has serendipitously made its way onto the radio DJs mix.



However, what do you do when a band whose rason de'etre is to shuffle through used tunes, like most of us peruse Good Will stores, starts looking to "mature"? The results are not pretty. "The Drop I Hold," a song that drags its belly from beginning to end, is an embarrassing attempt to rap/sing over a vaguely hip hop beat. I'm all for mixing of genres and actually believe that since the nineties too many musicians have been hold up in their own musical corner, but here the song not only sounds out of place but the rhymes sound like they're delivered through a bad cold. Missing is any sense of storytelling found in the best hip hop, or even on other, superior Black Lips songs. The closer, "I Saw God," begins with a lengthy found sound of a kid ruminating on "God" that manages to be both pretentious and childish. Childishness is expected from the Black Lips, but I can't think of anyone who goes into a Black Lips album looking forward to mediocre ruminations on God.



In their attempt to recover sounds of old, the Black Lips have brought back something that should have stayed in the sixties: the front loaded album. It has been my unfortunate observation that too many sixties rock and rollers stuffed all the goods on side A in what I assume is the belief that when it comes time to flip the record the listener will be too stoned to stumble over to the record player. Similarly, the Black Lips may be hoping that you rip the songs you need and forget about the filler. For those of us who still listen to full albums this isn't an option, and by the time the Lips start rapping you will probably wish they would start singing about snotty noses some more."

Garage kings do it again

Justin Ahlers | rapid city s.d. | 04/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"well i will admit i think this cd is really good and hope years to come the black lips will continue as a band.if you are new to these guys i would start with one of their other cds,this one is a little slower than some of their other records-let it bloom is probably their best record."

That's 3.5 stars

Champion of the World | Northern Nevada, NV | 04/01/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Its ok. Typical of the indie rock grunge stuff. Repackaged 90s cool that the 29 year old guy working as a barista might think is real innovative.



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