the black lips

Like sex in a church, the Black Lips are an odd marriage of the holy and the hedonistic. Their fifth studio album, 200 Million Thousand, lacks the sheer kinetic energy of their live performances but benefits from an even pacing that emphasizes particular songs well. This release demonstrates the Lips' willingness to get gritty, and their sound comes off as authentic and uncontrived. Their caterwauling and wailing amid distant guitar licks is strangely endearing, like the drunk uncle you share inside jokes with at Thanksgiving.

"Starting Over" has an effective, building chord progression, while the infectious beat on "Short Fuse," the first single, would be an amazing track to rock out to on a sweaty summer night.

The Lips' noise has a definite basis in blues, but it is reinforced with well-constructed rock riffs on tracks such as "Drugs" and "Let It Grow." Only two songs run past four minutes, but none, oddly, feel short as you listen to them.

Throughout the record, there are frequent references to God, by means of obscure intro samples or long-winded spoken-word diatribes, which juxtapose the irreverent nature of the music. This ambiguous irony is particularly apparent on "I Saw God," which opens with a sample from a '50s anti-LSD ad, then continues with a profanity-laced monologue about how drugs helped the vocalist encounter the divine.

Despite all these attempts to be abrasive and distant, 200 Million Thousand is nevertheless engaging. The schizophrenic nature of this album is just that, a beautiful contradiction.