best albums of 2014: #5

 black lips – underneath the rainbow (vice records)

underneath the rainbow benefited heavily from the time it was released. record labels tend to release the most powerful albums january thru april. presumably, the late winter, early spring, time frame drives summer tours and the chance, particularly for rock and roll albums, to become teenage summer anthems. this album is, in all accounts, a teenage summer anthem. in retrospect, though, the later months of 2014 served up more joyous records (in my experience that hasn't heard so many of the *major* indie records). with lesser albums in spring, underneath the rainbow spun more freely on my tables. even better, hearing this on my buddy’s boom box in the garage hit straight in the heart of a rebellious youth.

true to black lips psychedelic form, they continue to fuel fun-loving pranksters, and are maybe at the pinnacle of such form. less reverb-drenched than previous efforts, black lips are much more accessible to a wider audience, giving even older, jaded, listeners a reminder of what still can exist. it was recorded in three different eastern locales by different big money producers (from the likes of the dap kings and black keys) giving this album a slicker polish than previous black lips albums and may even speak to average teenagers better.

the entire album is full of kooky grooves and catchy lyrics and themes about cruising, getting busted, chasing girls, ditching school, smoking, partying all night, an whatever things such an album supposed to talk about. despite or maybe because of juvenile lyrics, the dance-ability factor juices the album up in a decidedly playful way. but play it in the garage rather than the car, lest you really look like a teenager roaming the streets and, you know, get busted.

my experience getting to see black lips for the first time came later on in the year. it was as refreshing as being high school-aged again. the one thing i long for that the midwest offers better than any other part of the states is the dingy, garage rock clubs. portland clubs may sell cheaper tall boys, but not even the tonic lounge, or slabtown (r.i.p), or satyricon (r.i.p), could ever come close to matching dimly lit, month-since-washed denim stench, damp sticky beer drenched hard wood floors of just about every rock club located in a 500 mile radius of missouri’s borders. places like iowa city are magnets for the best garage rock, always have been and probably the reason why bands that don’t tour out of cascadia can't ever get the proper sound. that’s a comfort of home, right there. the black lips a comfort of youth.