Black Lips – Arabia Mountain

For a band prone to misinterpreting the spirit of rock and roll (examples abound online – being jerks isn’t the same as being rock stars, guys), Black Lips have no struggle nailing its sound. Asking Mark Ronson to produce your album isn’t very rock ‘n’ roll either, but it is, it transpires, inspired, with the chart-Midas a surprisingly subtle presence.

The quartet echo honky-tonk Stones on Dumpster Dive, The Ramones on Raw Meat and The Sonics on Time, confirming their continued indebtedness to figure-head influences, and while there’s zero progress to speak of, that’s OK. Arabia Mountain is more of the same in the way that every ten pound note is the same: its similarity to the last doesn’t prevent it being gratefully received, valued for what it provides. In the case of Arabia Mountain, the return is sixteen smiles; in the case of the tenner – if spent wisely – Arabia Mountain. [Chris Buckle]