Black Lips Stick With What They Do Best

Some fifteen years after the release of their debut album, Black Lips continue to deliver the rough-around-the-edges rock music that previously elevated them to the grungy throne of rock royalty.

Continuing to defy the mainstream success that would usually be attributed to a band of their longevity, the Atlanta rockers have produced an album fuelled by power chords, tearing solos and rapid – yet rhythmic – drumming. The sound of
Underneath the Rainbow, as distinctive and wonderfully archaic as their previous works, gives Black Lips the Dorian Gray slant that groups like Green Day and Blink 182 could only wish to emulate. This isn’t to say the four-piece are simply regurgitating old tracks, but that they’ve remained loyal to their own brand of scuzzy music with catchy choruses – producing a brilliant album once again. Opening with the rowdy ‘Drive By Buddy’, and finishing with the drawling ‘Dog Years’, Black Lips’ seventh album is as exciting and rowdy as the metaphorical bar brawl it sounds like it was written for. Amidst the broken glass and hazy smoke, the brilliant falsetto backing vocals of ‘Boys in the Wood’, or the Humbug-esque moody guitars on ‘Do the Vibrate’, provide the
Underneath the Rainbow with some memorable moments. The prevalence of awkward distortion comes perfectly to the fore on ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Home’, where the accompanying whistling is an experimental approach as you would expect from a VICE records product (consider other relating artists such as Action Bronson, Snoop Lion and Chromeo). The album is as raw and raucous as you’d expect their live show to be, with
Underneath the Rainbow unashamedly sounding like it could have been recorded in a garage with egg boxes on the walls and an unused punch-bag dangling in the corner. Showcasing a confident band with no pretences, the album is as good as Black Lips have ever been. 9/10 Links to Black Lips’ site pages can be found below
http://black-lips.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theblacklips  

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