Black Lips - The Fleece, Bristol - 16/2/09
4/5
By: Sian Norris
As is their way, (The?) Black Lips have been making a lot of noise of late, and having established that they were not the Black Kids or the Black Keys, I thoroughly enjoyed an evening of their jangly rock and fun time indie.
The band are fully ubiquitous at the moment, and it isn't hard to see why. Black Lips really hold the audience in their thrall with songs that encompass themes as wide ranging as personal loss and Hurricane Katrina. Their sound takes in a whole range of influences, from pure pop magic which credits the newest album's influence the Shangri La's, to the bluegrass roots of the history of the Southern states where the band hails from.
The Fleece was the perfect venue to see the Black Lips, a little bit grimy, a little bit offbeat, you could almost imagine sawdust on the floor. The aesthetic was added to with interesting facial hair and superbly pitched songs with a real community sense between the band members that can only really be achieved by having played together both for a long time and through some hard times - this is a band that aren't afraid to experiment, to dip their toes into different styles and aspects of music to create what is, all in all, an overwhelming sound that really draws in the audience to the performance.
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