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| Black LipsWe Did Not Know The Forest Spirit Made The Flowers Grow2004 BOMP! 
 Review by: Jesse See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
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Published on August 6th 2004
Genius. Black Lips give us ten tracks of early punk/60s psychedelic/freakout noise rock genius. While some comparisons might be made to label mates Coffin Lids' due to the "recorded through a tin-can" production, that's all the further that they share similarities. Instead, Black Lips sounds more like The Velvet Underground or The Yardibirds, if each band had pursued a more punk sound. In their sophomore release, "We Did Not Know The Forest Spirit Made The Flowers Grow," Black Lips burns through ten tracks of spacey, twangy guitars, steady and hard drumming, snotty/shrieking vocals, and rhythmic, yet simplistic bass lines. While most songs are under three minutes, the last track is a nine minute noise freak out session featuring a walking bassline and claps and snaps for percussion while the rest of the band throws every single kind of noise that they can imagine at you. Choice tracks include "Nothing At All/100 New Fears" in which a noisy three-chord rocker with tortured shrieks turns into a harpsichord/vocal duet in which the singer abandons the regular high pitches he is used to for a deep baritone. Overall, the song reminds me of medieval organ church music. It's some crazy shit. Another killer song is "Stranger," where the verse could be a B-side of of VU's "White Light/White Heat" while the chorus reminds of a mid-tempo noisier Minor Threat. Most of the time, the instruments and vocals are out of tune and so distorted that even if they were in tune, you're not sure what chords or harmonies are being played. Overall, this album presents rock n' roll in a new way by going back to old influences. A solid release that probably has a top 5 spot in my top ten of 2004 Video for "Fad" (not on this release) People who liked this also liked:           Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
yeh, to bad all of them were'nt killed in that car accident. but there is hope yet. black lips how bout black shitt better yet just plain old brown shit. although we do need a new white stripes or strokes. how much less talented can it get.fuck all y'all. danny baiter out i'll see them next monday...eheh... i am confused. Whos choke and all this shit about slapshot? the first album's cool but way produced. the new record represent their "fuck it dude, let's just rock!" live shows. No doubt, and "garage rock" has lost all meaning anyway, it's just good old rockn'roll and/or punk. garage rock has never been a trend. It's been around since rock and roll started. UGGGH This band fucking sucks! The garage rock bullshit is over. Get a new trend! No, i saw them in Iowa City last summer opening up for a local band. they did the most atrocious cover i've ever seen (blue suede shoes) as well. i would go pick up their disc if i wasn't so turned off by their live show. You must've been at The Blackout 2003. Black Lips live, and Black Lips recorded, are 2 totally different things........plus, the 2003 Blackout show was on their first tour, VERY shortly after their guitarist was killed in a car accident. I saw these guys live, and it was the sloppiest, poorest show i've ever seen performed. It was cool to watch them kick the crap out of the camera guy, chug pitchers of beer and puke all over themselves, and play the guitar with their manhoods, but I honestly thought they were just some really really crappy local band until I saw their cd in a store. If playing like drunken idiots is "genius", by all means, pass me a PBR. that video is pretty funny, except for those chicks in it. they're not even dancing. Yeah and every time Choke tries to explain himself, he winds up sounding even dumber than he initially did, which is pretty hard. "I want hardcore to be this thing I can take everyone, too"... I like Slapshot, too, but I mean it's hard to take such dumb lyrics. slapshot > this pretentious shit Jesse and BSD agree on something! Good band. This is how punk rock should sound. Revivalist? Yeah, but not in a Slapshot "I hate kids!" way. Good band. I think this may be the best review I've seen you do. Good job. the velvet underground reference is what's got me interested. Woah, bomp is still up and running? This album is great, but their first one is better. They're a whole different monster live though....1 part Germs at their sloppiest, 1 part GG, 1 part Back From The Grave, and 5 parts Jack Daniels. ive had that video on my computer for a while ,its awesome. watch it. i wanna check this out. i need something different. Is that a reference to Princess Mononoke? I've got this record too, I didn't scream "Genius" on first listen though (Bomp / Alive's Detonations seemed a bit better at first) but I'm definately giving it another listen now. |
