200 Million Thousand

Whatever you like to call the Black Lips' particular branch of guitar rock-- garage, revival, their own "flower punk" tag-- it's an easier sell whenever the band in question is painted the fastest, craziest, or most depraved in the land. But it's long past time we put the band's reputation and ridiculous press aside and look at them for who they are; they're neither buffoons nor savants, and they deserve to be judged on their music, which was plenty maniacal without taking any outside factors into consideration. Now on the verge of a potential breakthrough-- maybe because of it, who knows-- on 200 Million Thousand, Black Lips sidestep expectations and make a record less approachable than its predecessor.