hazim and the new asymptotesARTIST: Black Lips
ALBUM: 200 Million Thousand
RATING: OOO
hey. hazim here...again. Black Lips are baaacck...and like a good old dependable fox hound, they're serving the same brand of rock, albeit messier and much more confident. It's almost the same affair as last time, but wait...there's a rap song! This from the band that got kicked out of India recently (pre-Slumdog Millionaire's Oscar win).
WHAT'S GOOD: "The Drop I Hold" holds the most stark contrast when compared to the rest of the album. It's got lead Cole Alexander half-singing, half-rapping drunk-like and droning. The track sounds like a lost Jurassic 5 song and as the album's most drastic turn of artistry, it's also the best moment. The rest of the album holds together like their last album did, lean, tight, and plays on like 5 am when the bar's closing and the guys have their arms on each other singing and swigging with a couplet of creative twists (the rap-infused "The Drop I Hold" and the super power catchy "Short Fuse") that leave you craving for more-beer and songcraft.
WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD: It's slightly irking that aside from the two mentioned tracks, there aren't any surprises and you'd do just as well, maybe better to just play their last album because songs like "Elijah" and "Body Combat" sound calculatedly sloppy and lazy. The album drags at the end, which at 14 tracks long, it's just a bit too much.
SOOOO0....: If you want to introduce yourselves to the "flower punk" that is Black Lips, don't start here. Trying to meet expectations, they stumble short. When they're at their best (as on their last studio album Good Bad Not Evil, they're captivating and friendly but when they're trying too hard, they're forgettable and serious. And with Black Lips, serious isn't fun.
THERE'S THIS SONG I LIKE: "The Drop I Hold" "Short Fuse"
DOWNLOAD LINK: Black Lips-200 Million Thousand
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