They are not terribly worse either, which makes it hard to place Black Lips among a gamut of quality. Unfortunately, a lot of people are doing that these days, and Black Lips’ take isn’t noticeably better than Wavves or Best Coast. One of the album’s first singles, “Modern Art”, could have been a Sublime b-side, as it fuses surf-pop and garage rock. Unlike their rather straightforward use of the standard four-piece band on 200 Million Thousand, this new material sounds fresh and innovative. “Family Tree” is a fun jaunt through a general overture of how Arabia Mountain sounds. Think Dandy Warhols and their western-inspired overhaul on Odditorium back in 2005. And though the vocals stay true to the band’s previous material, the instrumentation has undergone a 180-degree spin. These Lips have taken a decisive turn away from the grittier sounds of their past and have produced an album that has more upbeat, jangly, and guitar-laden tracks than anything they’ve ever done before. Cleaning up can be a risky business, and Arabia Mountain does so with varying success. Cursive, on the other hand, showed how they had deteriorated from their grittier past, creating poppier songs for Happy Hollow and nearly losing an entire fan base in the process. For example, TV on the Radio’s amazing Dear Science was described as a cleaner, more polished version of the band compared to their work on Return to Cookie Mountain.
The attributes I just listed can be eschewed as positive or negative depending on which album you’re talking about. It is cleaner, more focused, highly thematic and more accessible. And the band was recognized for this the album received generally favorable reviews and was a favorite among journalists and fans alike.Īrabia Mountain, the band’s new album, is not like 200 Million Thousand. It was gross, murky, dirty and distorted, but it worked so well. Then I heard 200 Million Thousand, an album with a dirge to it that simply lights each song on fire. Before 2009, I was more or less indifferent to Black Lips, a band that basically sounded like a few other bands I already liked (Monks, King Khan & BBQ Show, etc).
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