A definitive statement by your favorite Atlanta, GA scumbags, "Good Bad Not Evil" is way more varied than Black Lips' earlier balls-out garage punk records, incorporating dirty blues, country twang, and a bona fide pop hit in the form of "Cold Hands." Eleven out of ten.

Less scuzzy sonically speaking, but still endearingly filthy, Atlanta's notoriously rambunctious boys follow up their live album debut on Vice, from earlier this year, with a fourth studio album that packs a whole lot of punch during its teasing 35-minute length. Taking its continuity cues a la the Nuggets comps, the aptly-titled Good Bad Not Evil grinds through a combination of the Lips' own perfected twist of lysergic-flavored garage rock and a more primal psychedelia, all done with a pretty off-kilter bluesy undercurrent and noticeably cleaner sound production. And while the band treads on its own well-worn territory, they skillfully manage to improve and further their phonic excesses every go around: there's the D. Boon-esque metallic guitar bashing jam, single "Cold Hands," the boozy "Lock and Key," and the surprising slow gem, "Veni Vidi Vici." So even if the edges are a little less rough as the immature foursome graduates from middle school to high school -- probably garnering a larger audience along the way -- was it really possible to get messier than the aforementioned nasty Los Valientes Del Mundo Nuevo, and did you actually want them to? The lyrics still always beg for distastefully funny sing-a-longs -- see "O Katrina!" and "How Do You Tell a Child" -- and the record as a whole is a refreshing breath of originally recycled air. If you can't love this kind of rock fun, you may need to lighten up. Recommended! [PG] (September 12, 2007)