LimeWire Music Blog

Black Lips 200 Million Thousand Vice	Dan Auerbach Keep It Hid Nonesuch

Scouting Report: And we’re
back! And back to where it all began:
LimeWire Music Blog. Sorry about
taking, oh, all of 2008 off, but now that the collective bargaining is settled, I a … ah, who am I kidding? Anyway, in baseball’s
spring training, pitching tends to be rusty, and scoring can get out of hand. So, since I no doubt will also be rusty, I might
as well ensure there are some runs. That’s why the latest from Atlanta’s makers of fine retro-ruckus, Black Lips, will be leading off this post,
and this season. Veni Vedi Vicious remains one of the highest-scoring releases in
Indie Rock Baseball’s brief history (four runs), so they’ll have a high standard to
live up to. But by the sounds of their album title – 200 Million Thousand – they are already in mid-season form.

Their opponent
today is Dan Auerbach of the Ohio duo-rockers Black
Keys. Man, one member of a two-man band
going solo must be awfully awkward for the other guy.  Anyway, I’m sure it’s been noted before but
here it is again: White Stripes: Led
Zeppelin :: Black Keys : Bad Company. Then again, I complain about smarty-pants rock all the time; someone’s
gotta make new jams for the beer-hoisters. Auerbach
brings his prodigious beard and his debut solo effort, Keep It Hid, to the game.

Play ball!

First Up: 200
Million Thousand

1. “Take My Heart” (2.46) | Psychedelic, sloppy. Finally, someone’s working on a new Nuggets record. | HIT, one on
2. “Drugs” (2.31) | BALL,
   1-0
3. “Starting Over” (3.57) | Sensitive, sloppy.  Finally, someone’s working on a new
   Saints record. | DOUBLE, one
   in, one on
4. “Let It Grow” (3.35) | STRIKE, 0-1
5. “Trapped in a Basement” (2.32) | Fun if you hate metaphors. Of course, if I hated metaphors, I
   wouldn’t do this column. | Just
   outside, 1-1
6. “Short Fuse” (3.24) | The
   attempt at a “hit.”  Which
   means it ain’t the hit. | BALL,
   2-1
7. “I’ll Be With You” (2.30) | Say, can we get that live
   chicken back in the mix? | STRIKE,
   2-2
8. “Big Black Baby Jesus of Today” (2.54) | BALL, full count
9. “Again & Again” (2.46) | “Don’t Bore Us, Get to the Chorus,” exalted. | BALL 4, walk, runners at first and second
10. “Old Man” (2.56) | STRIKE,
    0-1
11. “The Drop I Hold” (3.15) | They just dropped the band’s URL and then rhymed it with “Islam.”
    Up next: 50 Cent’s garage rock record. | STRIKE, 0-2.
12. “Body Combat” (3.22) | BALL, 1-2
13. “Elijah” (2.50) | BALL,
    count evens at 2-2
14. “I Saw God” (4.27) | Nice
    try, but the Dead Milkmen already wrote all the faux-gospel I’ll ever
    need. | STRIKE 3, OUT

Black Lips make
their Wowee Zowee, and ahead of
schedule, at that. Their commitment to lo-fidelity and the immediacy of the
material remains refreshing, and there are a few
gems. Still, pretty self-conscious
stuff. Dabbling: it’s not for
everyone. For Black Lips, 1 run on 2 hits, none left on.

Next Up: Keep It Hid

1. “Trouble Weighs A Ton” (2.17) | The first earnest song of the match-up.  And not the last, I bet. | BALL, 1-0
2. “I Want Some More” (3.46) | BALL, 2-0
3. “Heartbroken, In Disrepair” (3.21) | Well, this one describes pretty much everyone in or from Ohio. | DOUBLE, runner on second
4. “Because I Should” (0.53) | Auerbach’s Swell Maps moment. Maybe this is why he went solo. | BALL, 1-0
5. “Whispered Words” (4.06) | Majestic, romantic. | DOUBLE,
   one in, one on
6. “Real Desire” (4.23) | BALL, 1-0
7. “When The Night Comes” (3.56) | STRIKE, 1-1
8. “Mean Monsoon” (3.45) | Black Lips: for the kid in you. Dan Auerbach: for the adult in you. | HIT, another run scores, man on 1st
9. “The Prowl” (3.15) | Stalker-tastic.
   | HIT, runners at the corners
10. “Keep It Hid” (3.39) | BALL, 1-0
11. “My Last Mistake” (3.12) | Auerbach’s earned the right to mimic CCR at this point. Plus,
    great bridge. | DOUBLE, two
    in, runner at 2^nd
12. “When I Left The Room” (4.01) | You just kinda knew the banjo wasn’t gonna stay in the corner
    forever. | STRIKE, 0-1
13. “Street Walkin’” (3.52) | BALL, 1-1
14. “Goin’ Home” (4.57) | Okay,
    this one’s a little hackneyed. | STRIKE,
    inning over.

Bluesy, dark and
classic-rocking with just enough modern electronic weirdness and over-driven,
akimbo drumming to make it stick.  Fourteen
songs of this stuff is a lot, but it sounds like he means every note of it, and
that’s all I ever ask. For Dan Auerbach, four runs on five hits, none
left on.

Don’t tell the
other Black Key, but this one’s no contest. Your final today:
Dan Auerbach 4, Black Lips 1. Stay tuned for more Indie Rock Baseball.