Additional personnel: Steve Jones (pedal steel guitar).

Illustrator: Jiro Bevis.

Photographer: Dan Monick.

Atlanta garage-punk kingpins the Black Lips made a name for themselves outside garage circles thanks to an infamously rambunctious live show that was known to involve all manner of flying fluids. Fittingly, their first album for Vice Records, LOS VALIENTES DEL MUNDO NUEVO, was a set recorded live in Tijuana, Mexico. A raucous session by any standard, the album set the stage for the Lips' studio debut for Vice, the excellent GOOD BAD NOT EVIL.

Though GBNE is as much of a stomping good time as any other Lips album, it displays a newfound focus on craft and nuance over chaos and raunch. "Veni Vidi Vici" and "Step Right Up" offer polished updates on '60s garage and psych, while "Navajo" and "How Do You Tell a Child That Someone Has Died" are pitch-perfect genre exercises that point to the Lips' irreverence as well as their talent. A strong record that shows a band growing without abandoning its soul, GOOD BAD NOT EVIL will surely introduce the Lips to a larger audience, while pleasing fans as well.