Quick Thoughts On Bloc Party; Black Lips - You Must Know This Band

Mr. Exitfare gave me Bloc Party's A Weekend In The City and Black Lips' Los Valientes Del Mundo Nuevo to listen to at the same time. Both were devoid of any artwork, having nothing but the noticeable watermarks and white paper with the bubbly but sinister VICE logo atop a simple tracklisting.

So what'd I listen to first? Bloc Party, of course. I was ready to dislike it, but ended up falling in love with it instantly. Kind of like TV On The Radio. Or kind of if Silent Alarm was Show Your Bones and this new record is Fever To Tell. Ya follow?



But this is not at all about Bloc Party (anymore). I'd heard about the Black Lips. That is all. Didn't know what to imagine, but my preconceived notions revolved around the artsy thrash punk that's emerged from the pile of Blood Brothers' ashes. (Funny, if I may say so, how a band that is still so "new" as BB has already created such an archetype. Shit moves too fast in hyperreality!)

A gritty live record recorded in Tijuana, the Atlanta-based garage band have a timelessness to the record as I listen to it, over and over, in its entirety. It's taken me nearly two weeks to reach an opinion, but the end result is a very good one. This could be a really great introduction to the band, considering the fact that there is no studio work involved. I've seen the phrase "true visionaries of a skeptical age," and I like it. The Velvet Underground and 13th Floor Elevators have taught them well.

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/theblacklips