Black Lips Good Bad Not Evil by: Justin Pearsall Tue:18-Dec-07 Label: Vice/Speak & Spell Year: 2007 WB rating 88 out of 100

Garage is one of the most critically misjudged genres. The looseness inherent in the musicianship, the lo-fi nature typical of its recording and the ‘attitude’ at the heart of its existence unfortunately all brew together in a manner that confounds critics so that any band with squawking vocals and fuzzed out power chords are classed as ‘the next big thing’. These critics and publications continually misrepresent and misunderstand the distinction between authenticity and posturising, and at a more simplistic level fail to understand that in and of itself the energy of garage rock doesn’t mean shit unless the band has the songs and the swagger to back it up.

Thankfully all the hype about The Black Lips is justified, their appropriate tag lines: ‘fresh, wild and raw’ are all underpinned by the fact that they have existed for seven years, just now reaching their zenith with Good Bad Not Evil, a record that is equal parts slack-wrist haze and tight, thought provoking songwriting.

While their sound exemplifies all of the trademarks of the garage genre, The Black Lips’ employ an encyclopaedic knowledge of the history behind rock ‘n’ roll to differentiate themselves from others in the genre. Whether it is the retro-revived R ‘n’ B of ‘Bad Kids’, the pedal steel-soaked, drunken country of ‘How do you Tell a Child that Someone has Died’ or the Western psychedelia of ‘Navajo’, Good Bad Not Evil is as diverse as any record of the year. The key success to the band’s genre-borrowing being that, whether in country, punk or retro mode, The Black Lips have the skills to imitate while retaining individuality, their spit-and-all performances and muzzy production always at the heart of the material.

When The Black Lips venture into the more expected paradigms of garage rock they are equally as enthralling. Album opener ‘I Saw a Ghost (Lean)’ and the Them-esque ‘O Katrina!’ burst forth with bravado and aggression recapturing the kind of intensity that defined the early rock and punk scenes – an energy that seems to have been absent in the hearts of the listening public since the demise of Nirvana. Even within the template of rock The Black Lips are capable of diversity, and while the record’s other rollicking tracks – songs like ‘Cold Hands’ and ‘It Feels Alright’ – display a kind of hyper-excited quality and two-minute attention span that makes them obvious products of the one band, with further listening the individual pieces distinguish themselves, helping the album to avoid the lag of sameness that generally damages rock releases.

Rather than being ‘the next big thing’ or the next best thing to some original article like The Stooges, Them or the Hamburg-era Beatles, The Black Lips are ready-made as themselves. And while 2007 seems to have been the year of bands poised to take the next big step into major artistry – the word potential a candidate for this year’s musical catchphrase – The Black Lips are already at the required level. The exact opposite to the all talk, no action rule, Good Bad Not Evil is a must-have album not because of some former glory, some future prospects or some rave review tag lines, but because right now they’ve produced something that will resonate for a long time: a 2007 garage release that is a classic in its own right.