Lead single “Short Fuse” is bratty and brash, but cleaner than any other track on 200 Million Thousand. In fact, there are some catchy, single-worthy songs here that could probably trump a good chunk of Good Bad Not Evil. This tactic is definitely a move away from the critically-lauded Good Bad Not Evil, and it almost seems at first as if the band is being contrary, turning away from their big, breakout moment by releasing an album far less accessible than their last one. So rather than search for clarity, they bed down in the fog.
Instead, they seem to be looking all around them, lost and bleary-eyed, unable to bring anything into focus. But with their new album, 200 Million Thousand, they prove that they aren’t looking backwards for their sound. And those sounds are, no doubt, a sizable part of Black Lips sound. They are, most simply, thrown into the ’60s-pop, garage rock corner on a good deal of album descriptions and reviews. But when this blurry area is achieved right, it can make for a great and lasting sound.Īnd though Ward probably wasn’t thinking of Black Lips when he made his point, maybe he should have been. It’s rarer, though certainly not unheard of, for high praise to pile up behind an album we can’t quite place in time, that meshes the old and the new into a murky stew. Fans and critics alike tend to applaud bands for being throwbacks or for representing the moment. It’s a seemingly simple point, but it is also one we overlook. He doesn’t mean music that stands the test of time, but instead music that, when heard out of context, could come from nearly any period. Ward briefly mentions his appreciation for what he calls “timelessness” in music. Recently, on the Sundance Channel’s Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…, guest M.