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- Published: 19 Apr 2008
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- Author: BoobySands
Name | Black Lips |
---|---|
Background | group_or_band |
Origin | Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
Instrument | vocals, guitar, bass, drums |
Genre | Psychedelic rock, lo-fi, garage punk |
Years active | 1999 — present |
Label | Bomp! RecordsIn the Red RecordsVice Records |
Associated acts | Almighty Defenders |
Current members | Cole AlexanderJared SwilleyIan Saint PéJoe Bradley |
Past members | Ben EberbaughJack HinesRichie Hayes |
Black Lips are a self-proclaimed "flower-punk" band from Atlanta, Georgia.
Just days before a tour was to begin in December 2002, guitarist Ben Eberbaugh was driving a car that was struck by a drunk driver going the wrong way while he was parked at a toll booth. He was killed but the band carried on, believing that Eberbaugh would want them to continue.
The band's debut full length album, Black Lips!, was released on Bomp! Records in 2003. Eberbaugh was replaced by Jack Hines, a friend of the band members, and they recorded their second studio album, We Did Not Know the Forest Spirit Made the Flowers Grow, with him. Hines quit the band in 2004 so he could settle down with his wife. Ian St. Pé, who at the time was enrolled at the University of Memphis as a music major, got a call from the band asking if he wanted to immediately join them on tour. Pé, who spent his early twenties buying alcohol for his then-underage future band-mates, dropped out of school and accepted the band's offer.
They have slowly built a fanbase that appreciates their style that is a rough pastiche of blues, rock, doo-wop, country, and punk. One of their biggest influence is the 60's Peruvian garage band Los Saicos. They gained national attention in 2006 with features in Spin and Rolling Stone magazines. The band got exposure in the New York Times during the 2007 South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, in which they played a dozen shows over a three-day period.
Their debut for Vice Records, Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo, was released in February 2007. It is supposed to have been recorded at a bar in Tijuana, Mexico, but fans, musicians, and journalists have expressed doubts about that claim and speculated that some or most of it was recorded in a studio with John Reis. Responding to such allegations, Swilley has stated that Reis recorded the show live with a soundboard, microphones, and a computer placed strategically near the stage. St. Pe said that the band had to use the best twelve out of twenty live cuts from the Tijuana show, which he described as "absolutely nuts."
In September 2007 their second studio album for Vice entitled Good Bad Not Evil was released. The Black Lips made their American national television debut in October 2007 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and played "O Katrina". In May 2008 Black Lips made their UK TV debut performing 'Bad Kids' on BBC3's The Wall.
The Black Lips were going to star in a film entitled Let It Be, in which they portrayed musicians in a fictitious 1980s era DIY band called The Renegades. A trailer for the movie can be viewed at the official website for the film. The movie was set for production in the summer of 2008; however, in a September 2008 interview, the band admitted they became disenchanted with the project after viewing the trailer and seeing the way they felt they were going to be portrayed in the movie.
In October 2008 a portion of the band's song "Veni Vidi Vici" was played during the season premiere episode of the television show Dirty Sexy Money, shown on the American network ABC. The same song was going to be used in a commercial by British supermaket chain Tesco, but, according to the band, the company decided not to go through with the deal because of concerns with the lyrical content of the song.
The group toured India in January 2009. Following some antics at their show in Chennai, the band became worried about being arrested and imprisoned for "homosexual acts" so they fled the city and eventually the country. The band summed up what happened in an interview at the Pitchfork Media musical festival: "they [Ian and Cole] kissed, some weiners got pulled out..." Vice Records documented the trip.
After the band left India, they traveled to Berlin, Germany and recorded a 12-song LP of gospel-influenced songs with King Khan & BBQ. The album was released on September 22, 2009, under the name The Almighty Defenders.
The Black Lips released their fifth studio album, 200 Million Thousand, on February 24, 2009 on Vice Records. The songs were recorded at New Street Studio, a former art gallery in Decatur GA, near Atlanta. The band embarked on a world tour in 2009 to support this album. Over the course of eleven months, the band played 122 shows total between Europe and the United States.
The band have a featured role in the documentary We Fun: Atlanta, GA Inside Out. The title was coined by Jared Swilley on the band's blog. The film made its debut at the Atlanta Film Festival in April 2009.
A song called "Arboles De La Barrancha" was performed by Black Lips for the film Rudo y Cursi.
"Bad Kids" from Good Bad Not Evil is featured in the movie (500) Days of Summer.
"O Katrina!" from Good Bad Not Evil is featured in the movie Scott Pilgrim vs the World.
"Veni Vidi Vici" from Good Bad Not Evil is featured in the movie Angel Camouflaged.
Two new songs "Before You Judge Me" and "Best Napkin I Ever Had" were released in June 2010.
They played at Heaven in London on September 16, 2008, which ended with a classic stage invasion, and has become their most popular live YouTube video.
The band has played in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Israel, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States.
The group has expressed interest in playing venues and countries that typically don't see many rock bands perform. They've said they'd like to play Africa, South America, China, Japan, Indonesia and Iraq. But have not, so it is all just talk.
Volume six of Brendan Canty's Burn To Shine series includes a performance by the Black Lips. There is no release date set for this DVD.
In a November 2009 interview with the radio show Maps in Italy, Joe stated that the band is in the "very early stages" of their sixth studio record. One new song, tentatively titled "So Long To Carolina," was debuted in that interview and will be included on the new album. Two other songs, said to be in their early stages, are entitled "Wildest Dreams" and "This Is My Word." Featured on the new album will be a skull which Cole acquired in New York. Cole told NME that he hopes the album "will be our most fucked-up but successful album." The band finished recording the album in November after working with producer Mark Ronson in New York City. When asked about working with Ronson, St. Pe said, "I don't know what other producers are like, but working with him was like having another set of ears from the outside listening in." St. Pe mentioned that Ronson shared the band's appreciation for "old tape machines [and] old microphones". The band debuted several songs from the new album (tentatively scheduled for release in June 2011) at shows in Georgia in late November. The songs include: "Time," "Go Out and Get It," "Raw Meat," "Dumpster Diving," "Family Tree," and "New Direction". On March 2, Vice premiered the music video for "Go Out and Get It" and revealed the title of the album as Arabia Mountain. The band has also released the video for the first single off "Arabia Mountain" entitled "Modern Art".
Cole Alexander (vocals), Jared Swilley (bass) and Joe Bradley (keyboards) perform as ghost-rock band The Spooks. The Spooks formed in 2002 to play Halloween shows. The band members wear white sheets on stage, and performances have included blood, animal parts and a chainsaw. They began recording songs for an album in 2004, and their first LP, Death From Beyond The Grave, was released by Die Slaughterhaus in late 2008.
Ian St. Pe has a side project called theFixedFocus . St. Pe also plays guitar in a garage punk band called The Original Three. They have self-released an EP, released an LP on CD and vinyl through Empty Records and P.Trash Records respectively, and have also released 7-inch singles on Shake Your Ass Records, Savage Records, and Perpetrator Records.
Jared Swiley provides guitar and vocals for The Gaye Blades, who have released two 7-inches on Rob's House Records. In late Summer 2008 band member Bobby Ubangi was diagnosed with small cell lung and brain cancer. He died in Summer 2009 and is referred to in the Black Lips songs "Dirty Hands" and "I'll Be With You."
Under the name Old King Cole Younger, Cole Alexander released a split single on Rob's House Records with Bradford Cox of Deerhunter performing under the name of Atlas Sound.
Cole Alexander and Bradford Cox also have a project called Ghetto Cross which is also the name of a song on the Black Lips' album We Did Not Know The Forest Spirit Made The Flowers Grow.
Joe Bradley produced a rap group called Incoqnekro. They recorded an album titled Incoqnekronomicon, which was released online in 2009 .
Category:Garage rock groups Category:Psychedelic musical groups Category:American punk rock groups Category:2000s music groups
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