Having been declared by the New York Times as, “The hardest working band,” front-runners of the Athens, GA scene, the Black Lips, have received their fair share of hungry press ogling these past few years. Now, with universal acclaim (minus India) and immense pressure for their new full-length 200 Million Thousand, the world seems to be calling on them to become the rock stars they’ve pretended to be since their days of high school rebellion. The result is an album that’s been appropriately steeped in paranoia before revisiting the usual themes of drug use, growing up, and of course, bromance.
200 Million manages to be their most stylistically-diverse album to date while paying homage to all their previous efforts, and I’m relieved to hear that most of the production quality remains loyally sub-par to industry standard. “I’ll Be With You,” is a goofy declaration of friendship that references the jangly end of summer vibe put forth on 2005’s Let It Bloom. One of the few occasions where they sound kinda sterile, “Short Fuse,” proves them to be self-aware of their burdening “garage revival” tag by evoking the likes of classic rock weirdos the 13th Floor Elevators. The drumming is much more succinct, and the song structure, complete with bright acoustic harmonies, is more obvious than ever. Continue reading ‘The Black Lips – 200 Million Thousand’
