MVRemix Rock

Monday

Artists, The Black Lips

Black Lips – Richards on Richards, Vancouver

Black Lips – Richards on Richards, Vancouver
by Raymond Hoh

It’s Thursday. Definitely not Monday, but then again not quite TGIF.

The Black Lips are slated to take the stage in Vancouver tonight in support of their new record “Good Bad, Not Evil”, whose title is lifted from a line from the Shangri-Las’ track, “Give Him A Great Big Kiss”.

Speaking of the Shangri-Las, Vancouver’s own modern-day rock version, Vancougar, the Lips’ supporting act, performs with the same flair and panache as their predecessors. You can’t help but smile and enjoy the vibe as the girls perform their ‘60s-inspired pop-rock songs about relationships.

As Vancougar finishes up their set, lead singer Eden Fineday yells to the crowd, “Are you ready for the Black Lips? I know we are!”.

Commercial break. The crowd of mostly twentysomethings mixed in with some aging never-say-die punksters stumble off the dance floor, while others depart to the bar, and some to the lavatories.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming. The Black Lips quietly stagger on stage performing a last-minute sound check, which is surprising considering they are renowned for their crazy, on-stage antics. Case in point: they’ve been known to drink their own urine and play guitars with organs… of the lower region for example.

Drummer slash vocalist Joe Bradley sets the pace for most of the show with his ostentatious drumming, marked by frequent flaying of arms and bopping of head. While guitarist and lead vocalist Ian St. Pe looks like he is at the wrong venue as he’s dressed more for a hip-hop show than a rock show.

The crowd start to groove to “O Katrina!”, an upbeat(?!) track about… you guessed it, Hurricane Katrina. “Bad Kids” follows and sounds like a road trip sing-a-long.

We’re later informed by Ian that their bassist Jared Swilley “had some trouble at the border” and that their impromptu Vancouverite bassist had just learned the rhythm to some of their tracks fifteen minutes before they hit the stage. It appears that this hasn’t been the first time Jared has had troubles getting into Canada.

Other than a bit of projectile vomiting hijinks on the part of Cole Alexander (the other guitarist), the rest of the night went as expected. The Atlanta-based band proves why they are currently one of the more-hyped bands on the scene. “I Saw A Ghost” and “Veni Vidi Vici” are two tracks of sub-three-minute, garage lo-fi goodness. While, “Off The Block” starts with some weird hollering. “Transcendental Light” sounds like a track Wes Anderson would put in one of his movies.

But in the middle of all their “flower punk” – a self-prescribed label by them for their brand of garage rock mixed with a bit of punk – you look at the Lips play a track like “How Do You Tell a Child That Someone Has Died”, a kind of parody on old-school country music with a mockingly-sung hook and cheesy spoken-word breakdown, and one can only help but wonder where they are on the musical spectrum.

Are they catering to a Twilight Zone cross-section who just so happens to like ‘60s music, punk and a little bit, well okay, fair, bit of silliness in their music? Yes. And they do it willingly and unabashedly.

However, there was something missing. Okay there was something physically missing marked by their regular bassist being AWOL, I grant you that. Not their fault.

Was that something missing a result of the fact that only two of the band members came back on stage for an encore that was, at best, mediocre.

Or was that something missing a result of whether punk wanted to be Punk that night? There was one instance of rowdiness which resulted in one person being tossed from the show and there were two passive instances of bodysurfing. Is that Punk? Or was that Flower Punk?

All I can offer is one, probable reason. Because it was Thursday. Definitely not Monday, but then again not quite TGIF.