I wonder if the Black Lips' latest album, "Good Bad Not Evil," (Vice Records) is a nod to that classic Shangri-Las doo-wop ditty "Give Him A Great A Great Big Kiss" in which the girls have a mid-song, spoken conversation about the male song subject? In the catchy little number, one of them states, "Well, I heard he's bad," to which another responds, "He's good bad, but he's not evil."
It's plausible because, although these Southern boys fashion themselves as filthy-mouthed, raucous little punks, there is more than a hint of spry, pop-like sensibility to most of their music.
It's this respect for the simplicity of vintage pop music, mixed with the spastic energy of modern punk rock that makes the Black Lips worth seeing live -- despite a reputation for evoking chaos and leaving disaster zones in their wake.
That being said, the Black Lips play in Milwaukee on Sunday, March 2 at Turner Hall Ballroom with special guest Quintron & Miss Pussycat.
Tickets are $10 (general admission) and go on sale Friday, Dec. 7 at noon at The Pabst Theater box office and The Riverside box office, on the Web at www.turnerhallballroom.org, www.pabsttheater.org, www.riversidetheater.org and www.tickets.com, or by calling (414) 286-3663 or (800) 511-1552.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
