Band: Black Lips
Release: 6/2011
Label: Vice
Part Two: HERE
Part Three: HERE
A1. “Family Tree” – A++
A2. “Modern Art” – A++
A3. “Spidey’s Curse” – A++
A4. “Mad Dog” – A++
A5. “Mr. Driver” – A++
A6. “Bicentennial Man” – A+
A7. “Go Out and Get It” – A-
A8. “Raw Meat” – A+
B1. “Bone Marrow” – A
B2. “The Lie” – A
B3. “Time” – A
B4. “Dumpster Dive” – A
B5. “New Direction” – A+
B6. “Noc-A-Homa” – A+
B7. “Don’t Mess Up My Baby” – A++
B8. “You Keep On Running” – B+
Grade: A (96)
http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/1/1687-black-lips/2717-live-at-webster-hall/
Word… new album (Arabia Mountain) is hot.
You know the routine, I turned on my ipod and hit shuffle…
The Stooges– “Death Trip” (1973)- Great way to kick off the list!
Korn– “Blind” (1994)- This is a good example of how I am not lying when I put these shuffles up! Though this is actually a fairly badass song for what its worth.
Meat Puppets– “Never to Be Found” (1994)- Haven’t heard this in a while.
The Replacements– “White and Lazy” (1982)- Funny, bluesy number from the boys.
Sonic Youth– “Shadow of A Doubt” (1986)- Apparently my shuffle is reading Our Band Could Be Your Life…
Black Lips– “Take My Heart” (2009)- Not the best from my favorites, but I’ll take it.
Slayer– “Criminally Insane” (1986)- From Reign in Blood, one of the few metal records that have stuck with me over the years.
Run-D.M.C.- “Walk This Way” (1986)- Another song I haven’t listened to in ages.
Nirvana– “Milk It” (1993)- One of the noisier/rougher cuts from In Utero
Ramones– “Cretin Hop” (1977)- One of the best album openers.
Flipper– “Sex Bomb” (1982)- Epic Closer!!! (for this shuffle)
Arabia Mountain explores new and exciting sonic territories for the Lips, a band that’s consistently been keen on experimentation and pop sensibility. From the inception of “Family Tree,” Arabia Mountain shows some return to pre-200 Million Thousand form in the way of clangy guitar tones. It is arguably the band’s catchiest garage/pop song recorded since Good Bad Not Evil. Cole’s vocals aren’t lost in a sea of noise and rhythm and nor are Joe’s drums. Mark Ronson and the boys found a really incredible way of making this song structured, but still fucked up. Speaking of that, the Lips were right when they said this would be their most accessible work, yet also be really weird. Ian’s guitar solo in “Family Tree” ain’t prime time and in general his guitar solos really have never been mind-blowing. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Speaking of mind-blowing, the Lips had quite an experience at the Dali Museum and captured that quite well on “Modern Art“. This song is another fast one, in the same spirit as “Family Tree”. Included in “Modern Art” is a singing saw and xylophone, of which both can be heard during the chorus. It’s little nooks and crannies like these that are strikingly noticeable early on the album. But just as things seem to be moving right along, we are hit with “Spidey’s Curse,” a three chord take on the marginalized molestation of Peter Parker. “So Peter Parker, don’t let him mark ya…don’t let him touch ya. He don’t have to stay!” Just like classic three-chord sing-a-longs “Dirty Hands” and “I’ll Be With You,” “Spidey’s Curse” is…classic. It took a little while to perfect in the studio (as evidenced in the Creators Project vid that took a look at the making of Arabia), but man did it come out right. On audio display is Cole’s finest songwriting; furthermore, his innocent delivery of such a dark topic is priceless. The outro conversation at the end that leads into “Mad Dog” is perfect. “Mad Dog” — you can tell from the title and some of the lyrics — speaks to the rhythym of backmasking and subliminal messaging. The guitar tones stand out as does the trumpet, the sporadic uttering of “r ew ohw r ew”…Kesha’s “We R Who We R” backwards. Concerned with the listener possibly being consumed by evil spirits, Cole asks “y’all Right?” “Mr. Driver” is an early favorite of mine as well. I love Cole’s delivery and the WOOOOHs. The song itself might be the only one on here that doesn’t clear the dance-floor instantly, waiting until the first chorus to do that. “Bicentennial Man” sounds different from the first six and that has to do with the fact that it was produced by Lockett Pundt, not Ronson. It’s of a lower fidelity… straight forward garage pop along the lines (instrumentally and such) of Joe’s non-album classics like “In and Out”. There’s even a guitar/screaming freak out (as I like to call ’em) that harkens us back to Black Lips circa early-mid 2000s. The surf/summery “Go Out and Get It” is real out of place on this record. Again, no one said this thing wasn’t going to be weird. Singing about “getting gold” amidst eating raw meat and tripping out on ketamine sure ain’t ordinary! It’s not their best song and the irony is that for what it is, it doesn’t sound up to speed (in terms of production facility and quality) with any of the Ronson cuts. “Raw Meat” is a brief return to Ronson production and it’s pretty obvious. This song has been kicking around in the band’s set since winter 2009/2010 and did undergo slight slight modification in studio. An extra “oh baby” or two has been added to the mix and the “whistling” part sounds more like a singing saw or theremin than something capable of coming out of a human mouth. “Bone Marrow” increasingly builds in terms of catchiness and features the saw. It is a trip down oldies lane for sure. “The Lie” stuck out to me on first listen. I love its pace and, of course, the ending freak out a la “Bicentennial Man.” This freak out is even better. Also, you can hear the infamous human skull that Cole used in studio to coagulate crazy tones. “Time” penned and sung principally by Ian is rock and roll. That’ s all. Really groovy and twangy, just the way Ian likes it. “Dumpster Dive” is a truck stop country tune: “I haven’t seen some good trash since I don’t know when!” It’s a true hobo’s anthem. It’s one of their favorite songs to play live, I’ve noticed. There’s some toy piano on record. “New Direction” is a return to where “Mr. Driver” left off in terms of production. It’s pace and styling is similar to “Modern Art”. Easily heard vocals, clangy guitars, steady drum beats. You know the deal. There’s not much not to be impressed with. “Noc-A-Homa” is the Lips big ’60s revival rock ‘n roll, dance, and have fun kind of thing. Far more “Louie Louie” than Back From The Grave. Flower punk. From the looks of the title and the opening notes, you probably wouldn’t think methamphetimines and nicorette would be a matter of discussion in “Don’t Mess Up My Baby,” but as you all well know…anything is possible. In a long line of screwed up closers and oddball songs — “Hope Jazz,” “Lion With Wings,” “Hello Mr. Postman,” “I Saw God” — comes “You Keep On Running” a subdued track that sounds like a bunch of dudes in need of some kind of closure. They do tend to expend a lot of energy on the great majority of their records, so maybe it is only natural for them to end with something like this.
I entertained the prospect of judging this record against the band’s other five. That seems a bit silly at this point. They’ll all about equally messed up. This one just came out more polished and layered. Still the Black Lips, the Black Lips we’ve known and loved for years.
“New Direction,” here it is! The third track we’ve gotten to preview from their June 7th LP Arabia Mountain. What really stands out to me about it (and this will probably stand true for most of the album) is that it sounds like a refined combination of their older non-album twangy, noisy, country guitar work and the cleanliness of vocals and drums that we first got a chance to hear on Good Bad Not Evil.
Okay, so you guys know our deal… no not the kickass Best Coast song of the same name, but rather the fact that we love to make lists all the time, badass lists I might add. Well, it recently occurred to me that for all the concerts I have attended, hundreds of bands along the way, I have never made a list of the best live bands I have ever seen. This is purely personal favorites, so don’t make an asshole out of yourself by commenting that this is “wrong” or “You don’t know what your talking about.” You are better than that. Make your own list.
Criteria:
– how fun, how memorable, how awesome as performers/entertainers/artists
– how visceral
– how did the crowd react as a whole (though I tend to not let others get in the way of my concert experience, if people aren’t into a show, it’s just not the same).
– first impressions
– lasting impressions
– Venue (to a certain extent, as you’ll notice there are no stadium/arena shows here and only two seated sets (Pixies and Sonic Youth, both of which I was fairly close up for)
Speaking of venues a shout out to the Middle East in Cambridge, MA, which has hosted the most KLYAM attended concerts (12) than any other venue.
Okay, let’s go!
Yayyy Allie (White Wires, Peach Kelli Pop) in the background!!!
15) Hunx and His Punx @ Harpers Ferry, October 2009-
Straight up, I came to see Jay Reatard and had never heard of Hunx and His Punx whatsoever. Thus this set was easily one of the most surprising, unexpected sets I had ever seen. At the time, I thought the songs were decent, but they didn’t stand out much to me. Hunx, however did. As I said earlier, unexpected. I just didn’t expect a dude in his thong singing about how his boyfriend won’t come back and using his crotch as a pillow for the gentlemen adjacent to me. Eventually, I checked out Hunx and now I love the band. But, without a doubt one of the most unusual and simultaneously fun concert experiences.
14) Magic Kids @ Brighton Music Hall, April 2011-
The Magic Kids really put on a terrific set that night. I’ve seen many bands, but I have rarely seen a band as equally engaged with their art as they are committed to having fun! Sonically, everything sounded fantastic and enhanced their already amazing recordings. A Magic Kids live LP? Someday, I hope.
13) Nobunny @ Harpers Ferry, October 2009 & @ PA’s Lounge, June 2010
So, I saw the bunnyman fresh off Hunx on that cool October night waiting in anticipation for Jay Reatard. Nobunny, like his contemporaries destroyed that night and left me with serious lasting impression. The second time around, it was just as fun, perhaps a tad less wild, but definitely one of the best moshpits I’ve been in. Just great rock and roll and mayhem. What more can you ask for?
12) Deerhunter @ House of Blues, March 2010, Royale, August 2010, and Royale, October 2010.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Deerhunter are mesmerizing. Maybe their sets are more structured than the guys would like them to be, but for me they still blow me way each time. In particular, I always love the showmanship of Bradford Cox and the entire group simply has an undeniable Great Rock and Roll Band presence to them, I don’t see very often these days. Whilst, still being trippy and demented as fuck. I remember when they played “Fluorescent Grey” it felt like the the place was going to implode at any minute, because the guitars were so violent. Yet, the group remains quiet and mellow the whole time. Excellent.
11) Sonic Youth @ Wilbur Theater, November 2009
I made a list a couple of years ago of fifty things I want to do before I die, seeing Sonic Youth was one of them. Honestly, as much as I dig SY, much of their discography is foreign to me, but this time around I lucked out; the set included nearly every song off their latest LP The Eternal (2009) as well as plenty of their classic 1980s material. As it turns out, I knew and enjoyed every number. For a theater show, this one was pretty damn electrifying.
10) The Pixies @ Wang Theater, November 2009
Another band I enumerated as a “must see before I die!” and what do you know they played my favorite, Doolittle (1989) in its entirety. The insanity and harmony of The Pixies was even more pronounced live than on record; I’ve seen several old school bands, but few can garner the same crowd response as these guys.
9) Animal Collective @ House of Blues, May 2009
By far the most bizarre show I have ever experienced. This was not simply a tear off your ticket, get escorted to your seat, sit back and enjoy the show kinda concert. This was more like dying and being reborn via the music of Animal Collective. The wholes show everyone was stuck together and in a 90 minute trance. When all was set and done, you were not the same person you were when you entered. It had that life altering, extremely visceral, almost lose your mind sorta effect, that’s the effect of their music live.
8) Best Coast @ Paradise- February 2011
Musically, one of the finer bands I have seen. The sound was amazing and as performers Best Coast were extremely tight. Songs that stood out were “Summer Mood” (the pounding of the drums after each utterance of the words “there’s something about the Summer” was even greater in concert), “Bratty B,” and “Each and Every Day”- one of the best closers I have ever seen.
7) Box Elders @ Harpers Ferry, October 2009 & Middle East Downstairs, March 2010
Just thinking about their excellence live makes me sad that they are no longer together. Wanna talk about presence, character, personality, look no further. The songs were fast, fun, and totally unique- but the visual was perhaps the best aspect about the Box Elders. You could not help, but be in sheer awe and joy when you saw Dave Goldberg pounding away at the drums while working the accordion and giving us all aerobics lessons or Clayton’s long golden hair reflecting the idiosyncrasies of his songwriting, and who could forget Jeremiah’s double guitar. Box Elders you are missed!
6) Wavves @ Great Scott, June 2010 & Paradise, February 2011
Wavves kid, really catchy songs kid. Indeed, they are fine sir, indeed they are. On stage, all of the fun of Wavves on record is even further duplicated, an obvious trend in almost all of these bands on this list. They are a powerhouse live, it’s like Jay Reatard (duh, Stephen and Billy, at least before) meets Blink 182, except, I love the former and don’t care for the latter. But, it’s there. No matter what the kiddies dig Wavves; the songs become youthful anthems, if they weren’t already. Also, by and large, they play all yer faves, so it’s always a gay old time.
5) The King Khan & BBQ Show @ The Middle East Downstairs, October 2009
King Khan and BBQ (Mark Sultan) are two of the greatest Rock and Rollers of the past two decades. They are students of this music and their knowledge bleeds through on all of their releases. Seeing these two wild and crazy guys in the flesh is a whole new chapter in this story. In terms of showmanship, it’s a ten. The duo truly put on a show for their audience, but they also don’t rely on theatrics either, their music is sufficient. On that particular night they played most of their classics and when “Shake Real Low” was unleashed the hunnies were doing just that; it was spectacular.
4) King Khan & The Shrines @ The Paradise, May 2009 & @ The Royale, October 2010
On record, I am way bigger fan of the King Khan & BBQ Show, but in terms of the live show, at least what have I seen, I gotta say Shrines takes the cake. That initial show was pure euphoria. It had everything you could wish for in a concert: A rocking band, everyone primitively shakin’, great performers, intense charisma, dancin’ cheerleaders, and supreme genius after supreme genius. Shrines are seriously one of the funnest, silliest, and best Rock and Roll bands on the planet.
3) Jay Reatard @ Harpers Ferry, July 2009, Harpers Ferry, October 2009, and Wang Theater, November 2009
Jay was a rarity live. He did his own thang, with little concern for anyone else, whether it be band mates, the audience, club owners, or even contemporaries. He played with his hair covering his eyes the entire time, shouting off the song titles and if need be berating the people in front of him were the only forms of communication outside of the songs themselves. This was a void between the performer and spectator, no doubt. You never knew whether you would get a quick burst of a set or a decently long show. I’ve seen both from the man and in either instance he was always on fire, as if the songs were merely tools to keep him from igniting. It was always a total whiplash and there was definitely an overwhelming feeling of astonishment, but there was also this delayed reaction feel to it too; you didn’t totally appreciate it until the moment was over. We didn’t totally appreciate him ever.
2) No Age @ The Middle East Downstairs, July 2008, Middle East Downstairs, November 2008, Wellesley College, April 2009, and Middle East Downstairs, November 2010
No Age is a band that satisfies the three basic elements I look for in all bands: Punk, Pop, and Rock. Yes, three extremely broad qualities that mean something very personal to me. When No Age opens their sets and everyone goes nuts that’s the Rock band in them. That wonderful moment of anticipation before the duo explodes in “Every Artist Needs a Tragedy,” for example. Randy Randall strategically swings his guitar around at just the right moment when the song begins to speed up and Dean kicks into the vocals and the crowds starts to really move. That’s the work of an excellent Rock band and something you just can’t, see, feel, or appreciate listening to the record at home, alone. Or at the last show at the Middle East when they opened with “Life Prowler,”- those first few quiet moments, where just the presence of Dean and Randy alone is enough to make you excited and Dean begins pounding the drums a la the Bad Brains- “Big Takeover” he simultaneously sings “One time is all I need to know my job is complete/ and when I reach into, my past, my past comes true…” this is the pop end of No Age. These are strong hooks that wrap the listener in, in spite of or in association with the noise surrounding the music. Lastly, the whole show is Punk to me, and the way people react to the music with plenty of energy is the way people should react to any good Punk band. Another one of my favorite moments from No Age’s sets, at least some of their older ones, is when Randy would leap off his amp into the crowd during the triumphant closer and my number one NA tune, “Everybody’s Down”- very Punk.
1) The Black Lips!!! @ The Middle East Downstairs, March 2009, Middle East Downstairs, March 2010, and The Paradise, April 2011
Do I need to explain why these guys are number one, as if we don’t cover them enough on this site. Look up all the Black Lips concert reviews on here and do some youtubing of your own and then you’ll see why they are and can only be number one. No one even comes close.
Well, that was fun.
Honorable Mentions: Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr, Radiohead, Gentlemen Jesse and His Men, Strange Boys, Girls, Arctic Monkeys
In an interview with Rhapsody at South By Southwest 2011, Black Lips Joe and Jared said they have no intention of releasing an album full of their singles. Collecting them all PHYSICALLY could turn out to be quite the task. Digitally speaking, though, they are riding the cyber-wave (thanks to NuRaveBrainWave for the Singles Club!) so go out and get it.
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“Best Napkin I Ever Had” – 2010 – Very nonsensensical, it reminded me at first of “Fad” and “MIA,” which is a very good thing. This, along with “Before,” doesn’t sound like much of a precursor to Arabia Mountain, but for the one-off kind of thing this was, it was nice.
“Before You Judge Me” – 2010 – Sonically, this is truly a post-200 Million Thousand kind of song. Joe is the lead vocalist, there’s some noisy guitar licks and other lead guitar fun, but the rhythm section is strong and steady — amongst the “tightest” we’ve heard the guys to date.
“Disconnection” – 2009 – Musically somewhere between Good Bad Not Evil and 200 Million Thousand, this is what I would put in the categories of straight, fuzzy, and simple. It is principally sung by Joe Bradley, but features backing vocals by the others.
“99 Victs” – 2009 – Cole does his raspy yowls on this fast, lo-fi noisy punk tune. Sounds like it would’ve fit nicely on We Did Not Know.
“You Know” – 2009 – Vocal samples and twangy instrumentals. A fun random tune.
“Born To Be A Man” – 2009 – An ole rockabilly/country thing that’s both fun to listen to/attempt to sing along to.
“Leroy Faster” – 2008 – “I look like a raptor and I know crack kills Leroy Faster!” sing the boys on the chorus of this one, which was a most worthy b-side off their Bad Kids 7″. The verses are humorous (“Rollin’ up another fag, you take a hefty drag, it looks cool when you gag”) with drug references (of course) and the chorus is great.
“Hasabe” – 2008 – Spoken-word and yowling by Cole backed by a basic drum beat and a repetitive guitar riff.
“Italian Sexual Frustration” – 2007 – One of the fastest tunes these guys have in their repertoire, it sounds light years ahead of their first two albums (quality-wise) despite employing the same sounds and effects that they’ve done from the start.
“Wild Man” – 2007 – A passionate and fun as can possibly be cover of The Tamrons 1967 classic.
“Make It” – 2006 – “This is a country song” are the words often uttered by Ian St. Pe before the Lips break this out in show. As a non-album tune, this has had the staying power in their set because it’s such a loving number and best of all — Cole gets to solo.
“Stuck In My Mind” – 2005 – Recorded in 2000, this was the first song that Black Lips ever wrote. The bass line and the lead guitar twangs pack punches.
“Stoned” – 2005 – A hard-hitting punk tune that’s got many an explosion and outburst.
“In & Out” – 2005 – This is pure ROCK and ROLL from start to finish. Done right. Joe knows best.
“Robitussin” – 2004 – Never officially released, Bradford Cox discovered a cassette containing this under his bed in 2007. This was supposed to be on We Did Not. Sure sounds like it. “Please please one more sip! I just want to robo-trip! Mommy, mommy, I’m so sick…Robo-robo-robo-tussin!”
“The Ballad of Ray Marsh” – 2004 – Penned by Jack Hines, this was a part of the above cassette. This is Bradford’s favorite Black Lips tune. Pretty noisy and a lot like the Robitussin narrative.
“B52 Bomberboy” – 2002 – Lo-fi for sure, but recorded really well. It’s pretty amazing to me that a lot of the band’s earlier cuts like this one and their debut album, in particular, were recorded so well in comparison to We Did Not and Let It Bloom.
“Ain’t Comin’ Back” – 2002 – The best or at least one of the best out of the bunch that they first recorded in their way early years. Displays the incredible vocal harmonies and fantastic chord progressions that have defined Black Lips all these years.
She was present for the infamous STAGE INVASION that happened at the Heaven Club in London in 2008 and the Dirty Water Club show in 2006. You can actually see her up on stage around the 2:42 mark of that stage invasion video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDIScX7YEn0. This is royalty, people. Her favorite song? None other than “Slime and Oxygen” off Good Bad Not Evil. How ironic that song begins “Four years ago I was lost I went to parties and saw kids give around black lights. I saw girls take aerosol spray and spray it down their throat!” This is the kind of info you won’t hear on Entertainment Tonight.
Not being a major smoker of grass, I have only ocassionaly celebrated 420 (as this year I sit with my 18 pack of Natti Ice instead), but if you notice several of the Honorary KLYAMers are weed and/or drug associated bands to one degree or another. So, for fuck’s sake here’s some 420 Songs of the Day!
“I’m getting high to pass the time.”
And who could forget this baby… Sniff it. Smell it like a flower.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 