In May of 2017, Atlanta’s The Black Lips returned with their eighth studio album entitled,
Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art? The album brings forth a new era of the band, which has gone through a shift sonically and within the band itself. In 2014, shortly after the release of
Underneath The Rainbow, an album produced mainly by Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, guitarist Ian St Pe left the band. He had been with the band since 2004, leaving at the ten-year mark. He went on to play/record with Diamond Rugs and with his new musical venture, Saint Pe. In addition to this, longtime drummer of the group Joe Bradley also left the band prior to the recording of
Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art? This would deter most bands, but The Black Lips moved forward adding guitarist Jack Hines back into the group (he was featured on the band’s second full-length album
We Did Not Know The Forest Spirit Made The Flowers Grow), and completing their lineup with new members Oakley Munson on drums and saxophonist Zumi Rosow. Sonically, the band delves into a form of psychedelic garage rock that is both chaotic and apocalyptic at times.
SGOGA boasts 18 tracks (if you count, intros, outros and interludes) and was produced by Sean Lennon. The album really does tie in with the sounds that were first experimented with on 2004’s
We Did Not Know The Forest Spirit Made The Flowers Grow, which also featured Jack Hines on guitar. On that album, which was originally released on Bomp! Records, the band explored, fuzzy, noisy landscapes blending in many psychedelic elements. What’s interesting to note is how that album ends and this one begins. Their 2004 release ends with a hidden jazz song entitled “Hope Jazz” with a looming fuzzy bass sound amongst other jazz and lo-fi ramblings. This album too pulls in some of that hope jazz, having the band project previous reflections of earlier sounds they experimented with, while at the same time mixing in what they have learned musically since then. “Overture: Sunday Mourning” comes in with a smoky Jazz groove before launching into the fuzzy crunch of “Occidental Front”. This song gallops with country grooves and apocalyptic fuzzy garage riffs. It also features guest-backing vocals (or screams might be a more appropriate title) from Yoko Ono and is sung by guitarist Jack Hines. The title is a reference to the early western world, so it is also appropriate that this song also attacks with an undeniable swampy primitivism. “Can’t Hold On” comes in next with psychedelic guitar arpeggios, organ, saxophone and hoarse-sounding vocals by guitarist Cole Alexander. The song is also undeniably catchy amongst its psychedelic musical acoustics with lyrics that reflect the song’s title, in which the songs character sounds as if their about to lose whatever they are holding onto. “The Last Cul De Sac” sounds as if it could be from an undiscovered mid-sixties garage band as lyrically the song tells of a desire to have no more dead ends. “Interlude: Got Me All Alone” has been said to have a
Twin Peaks sound, as it features smooth, yet creepy saxophone like music that was found in the 90s cult-classic TV show.
“Crystal Night” sung by bassist Jared Swiley and saxophonist Zumi Rosow is a 50s rock and roll influenced ballad. The song transports the listener into a fictional tale of a forbidden love that takes place during World War II. This strikingly bittersweet song is one of the highlights of this album and one of the strongpoints found on
SGOGA with a message of love conquers hate, regardless of the ending. “Squatting In Heaven” begins with trippy sounding guitar and haunting sounding saxophone parts. This song further establishes the band’s sound on this album as filthy, yet smart. “Rebel Intuition” blends garage rock with
Bob Dylan Highway 61 rhythms. Sung by guitarist Jack Hines, with lyrics such as
“I don’t like impositions/You can let me be”,
“I ain’t striving for position”, and
“I don’t waste my time wishing/You can let me be”, this song questions preconceived notions of what a person should be doing in their everyday lives. In the end it portrays a person doing what they want within their own means and on their own terms. “Wayne” is a more low key song found on this release reflecting an almost
Sweetheart of the Rodeo-Byrds influence. “We Know” is a scuzzy, sludgy rock track, “In My Mind There’s A Dream” displays an unnerving creepy tone, while “Lucid Nightmare” is an unhinged, call and response track from another dimension.
“It Won’t Be Long” originally released by The Beatles in 1963 is featured on this album, however, it is re-imagined by The Black Lips. The song sounds as if it is from the mid-to-late 60s, rather than 1963 with added scuzz. “Loser’s Lament” is an acoustic based pop song that is the second last track found on this album. This song leans in a waltz influenced direction with a Beatles touch. With lyrics such as
“He gave up everything/Just to hear his freedom ring/And he hoped for better things/For tomorrow”, this song evokes a tale of someone who risked everything in order to achieve his dreams, but one who got lost within the process before this could happen. The album ends with “Finale: Sunday Mourning”, which is the same musically as the overture that begins this album, however, the finale features a spoken word segment done by Saul Adamczewski (of Fat White Family) in which he talks of
“magic beans” and
“being a miserable man”, however it is done so with a nonsensical approach to end this album. Throughout
SGOGA, The Black Lips venture into a more psychedelic world, while at the same time branching out into other directions sonically and lyrically. They also poke fun at the idea of a concept album, while treading in concept album waters to some extent. With
Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art? The Black Lips balance in-between two musical worlds, one of the past and one of the present. They may be a little bit different this time around, but The Black Lips sure haven’t lost their sleazy charms.
Show 684 Playlist (Originally Aired On September 9th, 2017):
1. King Loser - Surf Lost
2. King Loser - 76 Comeback
3. L.A. Witch - You Love Nothing
4. Mr. Elevator & The Brain Hotel - Right Where You Ought To Be
5. Suicide Commandos - You're Not The First One
6. The Suburbs - Urban Gorilla
7. Prime Junk - Dude
8. Strange Relations - Orbit
9. Mogwaii - Party In The Dark
10. Safe Word - Wasted Youth
11. Motorhead - God Save The Queen
12. The Replacements - Shiftless When Idle
13. Oh Sees - The Static God
14. Stompin' Tom Connors - The Hockey Song
15. The Yipes - The Ballad of Roy Orbison
16. Peter & The Wolves - Boy Who Cried I Love You
17. Tav Falco's Panther Burns - Bourgeois Blues
18. Deja Voodoo - White Sugar
19. Joe Strummer & The Latino Rockabilly War - Search Party
20. The Tarantulas - Tarantula
21. The Treasures - Minor Chaos
22. The Motions - Big Chief
23. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - The Last of My Hiccups
24. Sam Coffey & The Iron Lungs - Talk 2 Her
25. Mark Sultan - Calloused Hands
26. The Black Lips - We Know
27. Husker Du - In A Free Land
28. The Replacements - Takin' A Ride
29. The Replacements - Careless
To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for September 9.
Show 682 Playlist (Originally Aired On September 2nd, 2017):
1. Outrageous Cherry - I Believe In Sunshine
2. A Passing Fancy - I Believe In Sunshine
3. Actual Water - Sleeping In The Garden
4. Neil Young - Ride My Llama
5. Radiohead - Lift
6. Waxahatchee - Hear You
7. Black Pudding - Sci-Fi Si
8. Thin Lizzy - Dancing In The Moonlight
9. Thin Lizzy - Southbound
10. Iggy Pop - Some Weird Sin
11. Iggy Pop - Neighborhood Threat
12. CAN - Don't Say No
13. Atomicos - Hotdog!
14. Aron D'Alesio - Long Way Gone
15. Trout - Easy Breezy Easy
16. Lychi - Meandering
17. Ryan Joseph Anderson - Molly The Flood
18. The Yawpers - Mon Dieu
19. Wooden Sky - All Apologies
20. Nirvana - Dumb (Alternate)
21. Teenanger - N.O.B.L.O.`
22. B-52's - Private Idaho
23. The Boys - Living in the City
24. Chrome - Chromosome Damage
25. Paul Jacobs - Quarter To Eleven
26. Duotang - Bastard Five
27. The Black Lips - Lucid Nightmare
28. The Black Lips - It Won't Be Long
To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for September 2.
Show 682 Playlist (Originally Aired On August 26th, 2017):
1. Sam Coffey & The Iron Lungs - Voicemail
2. The Fresh & Onlys - Impossible Man
3. The Fresh & Onlys - Wolf Lie Down
4. Sunglaciers - H.C.M.
5. Slates - Yellowknife
6. Guided By Voices - How To Murder A Man in Three Acts
7. Reigning Sound - Stick Up For Me
8. The Detroit Cobras - (I Wanna Know) What's Going On?
9. The Dirtbombs - I Can't Stop Thinking About It
10. The Gories - You Don't Love Me
11. Danny & The Darleans - Can't Kill The Rooster
12. King Khan - Discrete Disguise
13. The Fuzzy Undertones - Sharks!
14. The Count Ferrara - Toxic Fog
15. The Black Angels - Grab As Much As (You Can)
16. Christian Bland & The Revelators - Diddley Stomp
17. The UFO Club - Bo Diddley Was The 7th Son
18. Bo Diddley - Rock 'N' Roll
19. Hurricane & Able - The Novel
20. The Hi-Fi's - Look What You've Done
21. Randy Rampage - Don't Be Afraid
22. Uubbuurru - Living In An Angel's Corpse
23. Dion Lunadon - Move
24. Cellos - White Lines
25. The Standells - Mr Nobody
26. The Standells - Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White
To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for August 26.
