Album Review: The Black Lips - Good Bad, Not Evil

It's funny how sometimes, you can just tell from an album whether or not a band will tear it up live or not. Such is the case with The Black Lips, whose debut major-release album, Good Bad, Not Evil, conveys the impression that during their time in the recording studio, the sound-proof walls barely held them in.

Hailing from Atlanta, The Black Lips, known for their raucous live shows, would have had a hard time making a studio-based album that anywhere near matched the intensity of their earlier live album, Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo. Thankfully, this album is not only filled with quality material, but a wide range of it as well. While a large proportion of tracks, such as 'Bad Kids' and 'It Feels Alright' are still carry the band's raw sound, the band changes it up on tracks such as 'Veni, Vidi, Vici', which is a summer tune backed by a calypso-style loop, while Southern country music can be heard on the track 'How do you tell a child that someone has died?'

While many bands of the same ilk as have tried for so long to record studio albums that emulate their live shows, The Black Lips have realised that such a feat would be impossible, and to some degree, a waste of time - instead, they've released a brilliant album that perfectly complements their live shows, showing a different side of the band.

So get the album, and their earlier live recordings if you can find them, and make sure you see the guys when they hit our shores in a couple of weeks. If you're in Melbourne, try and get to their gig at the Tote, with Eddy Current Suppression Ring, who deliver the most intense live show of any Melbourne band. Seeing both bands on stage will be something special.

Tour dates are:
Meredith Festival - December 15
Oxford Art Factory, Sydney - December 18
The Arthouse, Melbourne - December 19
The Tote, Melbourne - December 21

Vice Records have a couple of Black Lips tracks available to download:
Black Lips - Not A Problem (Live from Tijuana)
Black Lips - Cold Hands

Good Bad, Not Evil is out now through Etch 'n' Sketch and Vice Records Australia

Note: if you're going to buy this album, then make sure you get the Australian exclusive edition that comes with with a live DVD of the Black Lips live in Israel - that alone should be worth the price.