The Black Lips – Good Bad Not Evil (2 LP Sky Blue)
This shit goes hard. It has the perfect punch of a classic noisy Psychedelic Garage Rock album (something King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard fans could get into), but the self-awareness and clarity of a late 2000s Indie Rock project that would inspire more great and creative bands like Cheekface later down the line, and it comes out in a wonderfully over the top and varied series of tracks and bangers that are equal parts catchy, visceral, and somewhat tongue in cheek.
It's a very short project too, lasting under 40 minutes in total, so every song has to hit in some way in order for the whole thing to come together as a satisfying experience - and it absolutely does!
The instrumentals are tight, the production is consistently colorful and vibrant, and Cole Alexander's vocals are a sight to behold, as he pulls off everything he attempts on here like it's nothing, regardless if it's supremely goofy and hard to take seriously at first, but the witty song-writing and sharp song ideas still pull me back in
So yeah, this might not be the brightest or most profound album that's ever existed, but it sure was one hell of a thrilling ride from start to finish, with only a couple of decent songs in the tracklist that I don't really mind when they pop up, but the highs like "Cold Hands" and "Bad Kids" absolutely made up for any minor missteps the album had, on top of being some of the best music that the Garage Punk genre has to offer.
Label: Fire Records – FireLP600
Country: UK, Europe & US
Media Condition: Mint (M)
Sleeve Condition: Mint (M)
Sealed