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The Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand [Album]
Vice Records March 23, 2009, 10:40 PM Views: 455
Comments: 0
 If you dislike The Black Lips because you believe they are unoriginal goons too fixated with pre-1970’s sounds, then stop reading now. This band haven’t changed one iota. 200 Million Thousand isn’t The Black Lips' nu-rave album, this isn’t The Black Lips' crunk album and despite what you might have read, it’s OK everyone - this isn’t The Black Lips' rap album either (although as ever, they are With Attitude). So it’s recorded using the same techniques as ever; the production is familiarly as vintage as the songwriting, and the same obvious influences clearly remain (with perhaps a couple of additional ones).
What’s new then? Well firstly the vocals duties are shared around a lot more this time around. Regular lead singer Cole Alexander’s vocals still feature heavily, but bassist Jared Swilley and drummer Joe Bradley also get in on the lead act, as well as still providing backing when needed. It’s Cole’s vocals that provide most of the album’s highlights though, not least on the album’s most controversial track. Now controversy follows this band as closely as groupies, so there are no surprises here right? Wrong. I mean come on, who saw a rap song coming from this band? If you know anything about it at all then you’ll know its split opinion like Genghis Khan split heads, so I may as well declare where I stand. Attempting to guess how anyone reading this may feel about it would be like guessing Robbie Williams’ sexuality - it could swing either way. Well anyway “The Drop I Hold” may not work for many but it sure as hell works for me. You have to remember that this band never take themselves too seriously, so I seriously doubt they are trying to give NWA a run for their money, and besides it actually sounds more like a spoken word track than a rap one for the most part (aside from the mock-beat-boxing from Cole at the end). However you want to categorise it, there is just something about this track that makes it work. The whole album feels that way, as does The Black Lips entire career for that matter – you feel like you should be laughing at them if you weren’t too busy loving every minute of it.
There is nothing else here that surprises in the same way, but there is plenty that delights. The Black Lips produce 3 minute pop songs in their sleep (if they do actually sleep), and this album has a couple of those. “Starting Over” is the band’s catchiest song since ‘Katrina’, sounding like it was recorded from within a saloon hours after their arrival, and closing with fantastic, impassioned, wailing and wonky guitars. “I’ll be With You” could well be the band’s biggest hit to date(perhaps they could break the Top 100), witha guitar line and drum beat taken from the same 1950’s American diner jukebox that the Fonz used to lean on, this is easily what Johnny could have dragged Baby out of the corner to. Oh yeah, I went there.
If songs like “Starting Over” and “I’ll be With You” are sweet and luscious enough to represent the lips from their name, then tracks such as “Big Black Jesus of Today” and “Trapped in a Basement” paint them black. The rather brilliant latter sounds like The Animals if they were in that exact predicament; the maniacal consequence of them not getting “out of this place”. Of course at fifteen tracks long, it was always likely that there would be weaker members of the herd trailing behind, and so despite not being particularly irksome in their presence, “Again and Again”, “Drugs” and “Body Combat” could all have helped trim the running time, not that 200 Million Thousand ever has you checking the clock, and if you did then you would miss perhaps 200 Million Thousand’s greatest highlights.
“Elijah” , which stunned as a lost In Utero track during last month’s amazing live performance in Manchester, sheds its grunge plaid on record as Cole’s vocals no longer howl during the chorus, but sound more like a childish strop. There is also the added bonus of piano now supplementing this bass heavy track. “I Saw God” sounds like anOscar clinchingspeech if delivered by Kings of Leon after too many beers (mid-speech belch included). The plink-plonky guitar line drives the song towards its climax; a fine album closer in the grand tradition of epic album closers....except, it’s not actually over as track number 15 arrives over 3 minutes later to deliver the true goodbye kiss from The Lips. “Melt Down” is a psychedelic stoner paean that spreads the icing on the hash cake. Of course like any good cake it’s as addictive as crack...you know you probably shouldn’t...but...just one more slice.
200 Million Thousand later...
Track List:
1. Take My Heart
2. Drugs
3. Starting Over
4. Let It Grow
5. Trapped In A Basement
6. Short Fuse
7. I'll Be With You
8. Big Black Baby Jesus Of Today
9. Again And Again
10. Old Man
11. Drop I Hold
12. Body Combat
13. Elijah
14. I Saw God
15. Meltdown
Last edited by Heron : March 23, 2009 at 10:44 PM.
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| | | | Overall Rating | | 8 | | Vocals / Lyrics | | 7 | | Musicianship | | 6 | | Production | | 9 | | Creativity | | 7 | | Lastability | | 9 | | Reviewers Tilt | | 9 |
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