A Music Blog Focusing on Los Angeles and Brighton

Amazing song that came off the ‘Does She Want’ 7″ that was exclusive to Slovenly Records, but which you can now get a hold of for only $4.50 at Goner Records (great deal, tbh). This shit sounds way cleaner than their 2005 selves really were but with all that kind of racuousness that they seem to have forgotten since they’ve really learned to play their instruments. As with all early Black Lips cuts, Joe has a strong hold over this song and just punches it forward letting Cole’s frankly rudimentary guitar skills kind of slide along. There’s a fantastic riffage moment towards the end, but the shouting is what really gets me. I love this side of Black Lips. Get this.

DOWNLOAD -> Black Lips – Stoned

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Git yrselves ready for this weeks edition of the Black Lips Singles club. The one I’ve got for you today is called ‘B52 Bomberboy’ and its a really early cut from the Ain’t Comin’ Back 7″. It sounds much bluesier than the Black Lips ever ended up sounding later on – unfortunately. It’s like an early, much less proficient, much more awesome Strange Boys track. Get on this while it’s hot.

DOWNLOAD -> Black Lips – B52 Bomberboy

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The King Khan & BBQ Show:

09.Feb.10 Prinzenbar, Hamburg (Germany)
10.Feb.10 Gleis 22, Munster (Germany)
11.Feb.10 Trix, Antwerp (Belgium)
12.Feb.10 DBs, Utrecht (Netherlands)
13.Feb.10 Paradiso, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
14.Feb.10 Le Tipi, Liege (Belgium)
15.Feb.10 Le Grillen, Colmar (France)
16.Feb.10 Point Ephemere, Paris (France)
17.Feb.10 La Vapeur, Dijon (France)
18.Feb.10 Le Rex, Toulouse (France)
19.Feb.10 Le Transformateur, Fribourg (Switzerland)
20.Feb.10 St.Gervais – étage, Bienne/Biel (Switzerland)
22.Feb.10 B72, Vienna (Austria)
23.Feb.10 Forum Stadtpark, Graz (Austria)
24.Feb.10 59:1, Munich (Germany)
25.Feb.10 Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin (Germany)
24.March.10 Biltmore Cabaret. Vancouver (BC)

Sled Island Festival, Primavera Festival and various mystery dates TBA SOON!

BBQ (Mark Sultan):

4.March.10 Pop Corn, Marghera (Italy)
5.March.10 Spazio 211, Torino (Italy) w/ Mojomatics
6.March.10 Officina 49. Cesena (Italy)
10.March.10 TBA, Stockholm (Sweden)
11.March.10 Truckstop Alaska, Goteborg (Sweden)
12.March.10 Pub Babar, Tranas (Sweden)
13.March.10 TBA
15.March.10 TBA, Helsinki (Finland)
16.March.10 TBA, Finland
17.March.10 House Of Rock. Moss (Norway)
18.March.10 Bastard. Tromso (Norway)
19.March.10 Hinsides. Bergen (Norway)
20.March.10 TBA, Oslo (Norway)
24.March.10 Broken City. Calgary (AB)
26.March.10 Double Double Land. Toronto (ON)
16.April.10 The Echo. Los Angeles (CA) (THE DAY BEFORE COACHELLA WHERE ALMIGHTY DEFENDERS ARE PLAYING….. YOU THINKIN’ WHAT I’M THINKIN’?)
19.April.10 Bottom Of The Hill. San Francisco (CA)

Brazil April/May dates TBA SOON!
Spain, Italy, Turkey & Israel May/June dates TBA SOON!

Below is the album art and tracklisting for Mark Sultan’s new album…

CD Tracklisting:

01. Icicles
02. Donʼt Look Back
03. Ten of Hearts
04. Status
05. I Get Nothin From My Girl
06. Go Beserk
07. I Am the End
08. Miseryʼs Upon Us
09. Iʼll Be Lovinʼ You
10. Waiting For Me
11. Just to Hold You
12. Catastrophe
13. Nobody But You

The CD’s ‘bonus track’ is the original ‘I’ll Be Lovin You’, which was later I later revamped to fit KKBBQ’s sound.

The Almighty Defenders:
SOOO many tourdates to announce, but I will wait until everything is 100%. What I CAN say is to expect a European tour in May, a show at Primavera, a show at Sled Island and a smattering of surprise gigs. More on that later…

DOWNLOAD -> The Almighty Defenders – She Came Before Me

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DOWNLOAD -> Black Lips – Starting Over (Bandstand Busking Session)
DOWNLOAD -> Black Lips – I’ll Be With You (Bandstand Busking Session)
DOWNLOAD -> Black Lips – Bad Kids (Bandstand Busking Session)
DOWNLOAD -> Black Lips – Bow Down And Die (Bandstand Busking Session)

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I have been working these past couple of weeks to ensure that I have everything that Black Lips have ever done and now, I think my collection is finally complete and I can share with you the final pieces to the puzzle. Todays is a wonderful classic called ‘Hippys’.

DOWNLOAD -> Black Lips – Hippys (from Hippys 7″)

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LA Record posted a very tame interview with the Black Lips as they make their rounds in LA whilst, of course, I am 5,000 miles away. Mother fuck! Anyway, read it below…

Black Lips have been to or narrowly avoided jail in more countries than many schoolchildren can even locate on a map and they do a ripping cover of Jacques Dutronc. They meet here between time and space to knock out this abridged print interview. Complete interview coming soon—both by Vanessa Gonzalez.

What are you talking about in the song ‘Short Fuse’ when you say, ‘Hey Humpty Dumpty, I guess you learned your lesson / You got made into breakfast by some fat old Texan’?
Joe Bradley (drums, vocals): It’s supposed to be a metaphor for a head of state or someone in power that goes against the grain too much and then they get taken out. The song is supposed to be somewhat about predicting the future—every line in it, to some extent. But like most prophets in their writings, it’s real vague. It can be applicable when it needs to be.

The whole new album seems to have a vaguely religious zeal to it.

JB: Religion sells.

Is that a conscious direction?

JB: No, it’s not a direction. It’s just something to dabble in.

Jared, I know your dad is a prominent religious figure in Atlanta. Does the Black Lips’ irreverence towards religion cause conflict between you and your dad?
Jared Swilley (bass, vocals): Not at all—my father comes to all of my shows. And we channel the same energies as they do. We sing about bullshit, and they sing about God. They don’t even drink at their shows and they go crazier than any punk show I’ve ever been to and pass out and fall down. So trying to recreate that passion is something I’ve always tried to do through my music.

What makes you think there’s a ‘Black Baby Jesus’ on the way?’
Cole Alexander (guitar, vocals): [That song’s] like an ode to a really bad-ass black person—Obama, Jack Johnson, people that become more than a politician or an artist. They become almost superhuman. They’re almost like a messiah-like person. But it’s kind of like a fantasy I have—black Jesus coming to Earth and just being like the most bad-ass person ever.

Who is this Baby Gusty that wrote the essay in your new album?
JB: That’s Jack Hines, our second guitarist.

He says the Black Lips ‘have carried to fruition the plan that’s been hatched, and will continue to be hatched, in the minds of dizzy, dumb and desperate youths the world over.’ How have the Black Lips made that happen?
JB: Luck.

You think it’s just luck?
JB: It’s definitely some luck. You gotta have the right attitude, too.

How would you describe the Black Lips’ attitude?
JB: The best. El mejor.
JS: What brought it to fruition is just doing what you want to do. Unlike other people, we sacrificed everything, like family relationships and personal relationships. We just did it—for years and years and years. We spent a lot of time as homeless people, spent a lot of time sleeping in the van. We just never gave up. Other people coward out really soon. We just wouldn’t take no.

Is there anything that stands out as the most memorable show amongst the thousands you’ve played?
JB: Playing in Palestine was really cool—something different than we had ever seen before. We rented acoustic guitars and we crossed the wall into the West Bank into Bethlehem—just found a courtyard and set up and started playing.
Ian Saint Pe (guitar): I’ll never forget a show we played in Brussels back in 2007. I had a broken bottle go into my hand. I lost mucho blood and was carried off stage after I blacked out. I have a big scar on the top of my right hand. Jared rode with me to the hospital and as he brought me into the emergency room he made me promise to hang in there because the doctor was gonna be hot, and it turned out she was smokin’.

Where have you experienced the most severe culture shock?
JS: America. I’ve never experienced culture shock, except maybe a little bit in India. But everywhere else in the world people think rationally, and I come back to America and . . . I know it’s not all Americans, but it’s like, the ones that are insane are the loudest. I’ve never heard such inane banter as I’ve heard here. Especially since Obama’s been elected. Yeah, America bums me out really bad. I spend most of my time in Europe and when I get back, that’s culture shock. Affluent white people are insane. I don’t know. I love America but I just can’t believe it. It’s so hard to swallow.
JB: India. They have a built-in classist system where you’re just born into something that just sucks or rules. It’s not fair and it’s not equal.

What’s the most mystical experience you’ve ever had on acid?
CA: One time I became an invertebrate. I lost all my organs and my skeletal system just turned to mush on the ground. I don’t know if it was mystical, but I was really mushroomed out. It was really brief, it was like—bbbbbblllllllllaaaaahhhhhhhhhh, turned into a blob, and then I was back up again. That was intense. I’ve taken acid a bunch and I’ve never had anything like that.

Do you feel everyone should try psychedelics?
CA: Well, I don’t think people should abuse them, but if you take it once a season, I feel like it helps clarify all my thoughts. Some people take ecstasy and say, ‘Oh, I had an epiphany’ or ‘Oh, I saw God.’ But with psychedelics it’s somewhat legitimate because it makes you think outside the box so much. Everything you know is so distorted. It just makes you think in different ways. The scientist that created LSD—Albert Hofmann—he took it until he was like 90 years old, and he did it responsibly, so that makes me feel like it’s not just some recreational tool.

Is there anything you miss about being a DIY band?
JS: There was . . . but not anymore. There was a big set of bands that were like all the people we knew in the beginning. They’d stay with us, we’d stay with them. We’d book tours for each other. Now they all hate us and talk shit because apparently we’re like . . . I don’t know. I don’t really miss it, but that’s the one thing that’s missing. A lot of the kids that supported us at the beginning hate us now. Even though we didn’t do anything to them. I think it’s that Maximumrocknroll mentality. That doesn’t really mean anything now, but people stay with that—like if you do anything beyond sleeping on people’s floors then you’re a sell-out. But that’s retarded. I have a lot of friends in awesome bands right now that are really successful and I love that. Like the [Fuck Yeah] Festival even. There were a ton of really good bands that played for tons of people and it was awesome. But some people get really bitter about that. I don’t know why. It’s a really negative mentality. And I don’t like that.

Read the rest over @ LA RECORD

DOWNLOAD ->Black Lips – Jack the Ripper

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Another day, another rare Black Lips track that I bring to the table. Although I’ve preeeetty much given all that I have to give (a few tricks up my sleeve yet, though) this one is really special. Here’s a track that they did for gay lovers Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna movie Rudo y Cursi. Downloading this track was hilarious because the OST has three version of this song and I downloaded the two mariachi versions first. Anyway, enjoy.

Download -> Black Lips – Arboles De La Barranca (Rudo y Cursi OST)

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I don’t know if this is news to anyone, but Cole Alexander aka Old King Cole Younger has started contributing to Bradford Cox’s blog over @ Deerhunter Blog. His entries so far are nothing short of spectacular, solely because apparently the man has learned how to use the internet. This is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I’m not mocking him because I am mean, but because last year at SXSW, I saw him struggling to use a cell phone. Struggling so much that Ian had to step in and help, so him using the internet is nothing short of miraculous. However, he has been posting some weird videos but ALSO! Some mp3s!

Download -> Black Lips – Feels Funny After (Leroy Faster Demo)

Download -> Black Lips – Leroy Faster (Bad Kids 7″)

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Okay, so we all know that back in August, Black Lips played a one off show in Brighton on the 26th of August. I left for Brighton on the 28th of August. FUCK. Then, they played Los Angeles on September 5th. That’s less than one week after I left LA. They haven’t played in either place when I’ve been there and available since. FUCKING ASSHOLES. They’re also about to be in LA playing like 4 times in the next week. UGH. And now, they’ve announced a US tour, kicking off the first day of 2010 that I’ll be back in the US for a while…. however, I’ll be in Austin and these bitches will be in the South – then they will continue on North whilst I go back out West. FUCK. Well, see them if you can, or just feel empathy for me that I can’t see my fav band :(

Charlotte, NC Neighborhood Theatre (March 17)
Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle (18)
Washington, DC Black Cat (19)
Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s (20)
Hoboken, NJ Maxwell’s (21)
Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Bowl (23)
New York, NY Bowery Ballroom (24)
Cambridge, MA The Middle East Downstairs (25)
Montreal, QC Le Studio Juste Pour Rire (26)
Toronto, ON The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern (27,28)
Detroit, MI Magic Stick (30)
Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom (31)
Chicago, IL Logan Square Auditorium (April 1)
Madison, WI The High Noon Saloon (2)
Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater (3)
Omaha, NE Slowdown, Jr. (5)
Columbia, MO Mojo’s (6)
St. Louis, MO The Firebird (7)
Louisville, KY Headliner’s Music Hall (8)
Memphis, TN Hi-Tone Café (9)
Athens, GA 40 Watt Club (10)

DOWNLOAD -> Black Lips – Lean (Live @ Clermont Hotel)

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DOWNLOAD -> Black Lips – Lean (Live @ Clermont Hotel)

DOWNLOAD -> Black Lips – Bad Kids (Live @ Clermont Hotel)

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Making a top 10 albums of the year post is fucking tough. I’ve been thinking about it for months, and how mere months can change your opinions toward albums, bands, songs etc, so making an albums of the DECADE post is even more difficult. So I’ve got to kind of cover my own ass and say that these are my favorite albums of the decade. Albums that just the mention of them bring to mind images and times in my life that meant something to me or changed me in a way. I’m no authority (not on music and certainly not on anything else) so just enjoy my top 10 favorite albums of the decade.


10) Is This It? – The Strokes (2001)

What is there to say about this album? It’s already been said and glossed over and repeated for years and years. It ushered in a whole new era for music most especially for people who came of age in the 00’s. ‘Is this It’ is my favorite track off this album.

The White Sport (Songs The Postman Can Whistle - Front)
9) Songs The Postman Can Whistle – The White Sport (2004)

This album, sadly, was mostly only listened to by people who are really in the Libertines and Babyshambles. It features Andrew Aveling on guitar and vocals (now in Littl’ans), Pat Walden on guitar (and possibly bass?) who is now in nothing (is Big Dave still around?) but is ex-Babyshambles, and Adam Ficek on drums. It’s definitely a series of dark moments (Aveling’s voice has a natural sort of melancholy quality to it) interspersed with inexplicably white beautiful moments like my favorite ‘I Was Once A Girl’. Pat Walden really leads this album – his guitar work is nothing short of excellent, I could listen to him ramble on at the end of ‘Yur Wrong’ for ever and ever.


8) Paper Television – The Blow (2006)

This was the last album Khaela Maricich and Jona Bectolt did together. Their previous albums were excellent, YACHT certainly has a way with beats and sounds that I never fully appreciated until this album, and sparingly appreciate since; and Khaela’s voice is a bell. A shining, beautiful, angelic shining bell. This album is sparse and romantic and thoughful and just beautiful. ‘True Affection’ was the first ever Blow song I heard, and most certainly the best. It’s 3 minutes and 23 seconds of nautical blips and the heartache of being with someone and never being sure if you’re good enough or vice-versa sung beautifully and written in some of the most off-kilter poetic ways.


7) Back To Black – Amy Winehouse (2006)

This album is a fucking bonafide classic. Amy Winehouse is a crackhead but the bitch can write music – she was more heavily involved than just singing and writing lyrics, she had a lot of sway in the musicality of this album too. Her voice is magnificent. Nothing I’m saying about this is original, but this album will always remind me of my first semester at college and ACL 2007 where Amy pulled out and we were forced to see the Arctic Monkeys instead… big disappointment.


6) College Dropout – Kanye West (2004)

This is probably a choice that 0% of the people that I know saw coming, but I’ve always loved Kanye West. I remember when his first album came out and I just loved it. He was a rapper, yes, but he had something to say and went about saying it in the most hilarious ways. This album was a slice of life that I knew nothing about and still was able to connect with the songs and feel moved by them. ‘We Don’t Care’ amused the shit out of me; ‘School Spirit’ made me sing along (yes, me saying ‘ooh hecky naw that boy is raw’ is a hilarious image!); ‘Breathe In (Breathe Out)’ got me through so many roadtrips over the years. And Kanye, around this time, was an excellent live performer. He is today, I’m sure, but I’ve stopped because he’s not the same – not live and not on record – but this album made him, and it captured a lot of my youth, too. Unfortunately, this statement he made, way back when, is now true… “I’ve always said if I rapped, I’d say something significant, but now I’m rapping about money, hoes and rims again’.

To reflect on my top 5… Those are the ones that I can clearly identify certain moments in my life with. Like, when I play them I have such a smiling case of nostalgia and a good case of the thoughtfuls, but I don’t play them all the time anymore. I’ve moved on. 10 years is a long time, but none of those albums are actually 10 years old. Most are 6 or 5 or 4 years old which really isn’t even that old, but I have Adult On-set ADHD (self diagonosed of course) so it seems really long ago that these albums meant so much to me. However! My top 5 are albums that are just as old (there’s not a whole lot of new albums on this list, 2006 being the eldest) but are so good that they’ve permeated my life in a way that doesn’t stop with certain phases or episodes in my life – they’ve consistently been with me and that’s what, to me, marks an amazing album – not one that appeases the people who read fucking lists (Pitchfork, Kid A par example) or one who is so esoteric that I couldn’t even list it here. So I give to you, my top 5 albums from this decade (note: I hate the fucking word ‘Noughties’)…


5) The End of History (2006)

I was trying to explain to someone the way I feel that Fionn Regan is a good approximation of a semi-Bob Dylan figure and the person I was talking to disagreed heartily saying that it was insulting to say that someone made sub-par Bob Dylan albums – but that’s not what I was getting at. This album to me is a modern folk classic, the same way Freewheelin’ or Another Side Of are perfect records of folk music. It’s beautifully written, with weird, dense imagery; the timing, so off kilter, keeps you in the moment, hanging off of every hyper-literate, poetic word Fionn utters – the same way Bob has us eating out of his hand on the aforementioned albums. But really, ‘Put A Penny In The Slot’ is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. That sounds like such a grand claim, but there’s something about the simplicity of what he’s playing on guitar mixed with the complexitiy of the story he’s telling – complete with tangents, life advice, and literary references, that just makes me swoon. The emotive quality his slightly feminine whispery voice has serves him best on this song, it makes one believe the longing and nostagia, and keep pace with him even though he’s quite obviously further than we are. That said, his new album, will most certainly be a ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ moment. Whether it’s insulting to say someone makes sub-par Bob Dylan albums (even though EVERYBODY does, so how insulting can it be?) or to complement and raise Fionn up to below, but still near, Bob status somehow insulting Bob himself… well, remains to be seen.


4) Down in Albion – Babyshambles (2006)

Now that I’m in the top four, it’s getting harder and harder to make any objective and rational comments about the albums. This album marked such a tumultuous period in my life (fittingly, though, no?) and helped usher in a whole new self that I’d never explored before – and that’s fucking HIGH PRAISE of the affect an album can have without speaking so much as a word about the musicality of it all. Pat Walden’s guitar work on this album will surely go down as some of the most underrated of the decade surely and Pete’s lyrical work on this album, although not as masterful as on any Up The Bracket (thanks, Heroin), still trashes anyone else writing lyrics around this time. I don’t think I can say anymore on an album that I don’t listen to frequently anymore just due to the things it reminds me of…. Shame.


3) Panic Prevention – Jamie T (2006)

God, it pained me to have to put this album in at number three, when in reality, it’s one of the best albums of the decade. I know I professed my love for early Kanye West so it would be unfair for me to say that I strictly don’t like rap but, not so strictly, I don’t like rap. Starting off talking about Jamie T by immediately classifying him as rap is completely off target, because what he does, in my twisted mind, isn’t just rap. I don’t think it’s fair to pin Jamie T to a box because he does SO many things on this album: so many intertwining samples, beats, bass lines, guitar riffs that all meld together to create such layered, textured songs that have so much more to offer than one listen can pick up on. It took me forever to realize that Jamie T is also extremely gifted lyrically – due to his strong accent (FAKE OR NOT, haters) and his like side-cocked way of spitting words, oh and his dense, often confusing, and extremely British storylines it’s often hard to understand exactly what is going on or how anything connects. Like, ‘Alicia Quays’, which is a 6 and a half minute epic which, by god, is an absolute epic about youth and having fun and still having a strong sense of self-reflexivity (What am I, What am I, What am I in my own dear eyes?). So Jamie T writes a ton of songs about going out. He doesn’t do it in the way the early Awkward Monkeys used to – there’s no obvious fake poetic pretense, just the nitty gritty (whether real or fake AGAIN) and his turn of phrase that makes the poetic, epic moments all whilst retaining his youth and his sense of fun and his sense that his music is for himself. This is an absolute gem that probably will be recognized more as the shite from 2006 etc (Fratellis, Kooks, NYPC, other contemporaries) fades away, or maybe not, but it’s a fucking gem.


2) Let It Bloom – Black Lips (2005)

It seems fairly standard that anyone just getting into Black Lips would prefer ‘Good Bad Not Evil’ just due to the fact that it’s cleaner, the melodies more present, and the pop influences out for everyone to see. But ‘Let It Bloom’ is really the quintessential Black Lips album, and the best work they’ve ever done. And I know, by the way, that Black Lips are a fairly easy band to get into – but I think there’s a lot to digest with the album. It works on so many different levels (like peeling an onion, right?): there’s the fuzz on the outside, then it’s the irresistable riffs underneath with the pop hooks, then comes the rebellious, funny, youthful, even (gasp) witty lyrics and then once you’ve gotten to the bottom of that, you can appreciate them all together – or at least that’s how it worked for me. This is just such a modern burnout classic album. Four dudes who couldn’t hack it in school, couldn’t hack it in life, so they got in a band where they could practically not hack it and could hardly play their instruments who then made this brilliant album of flower-punk anthems (Not A Problem? Sea of Blasphemy? Everybodys Doin’ It? Fuck yeah). I’m fully aware that a band with three layers isn’t considered complex or hard to appreciate or get into… but the simplicity of it all, the youth factor (very big with me, if you can’t tell) makes it the classic it is…


1) Up The Bracket – The Libertines (2002)

Life changing, life affirming, poetic masterpiece of youth and mistakes, all wrapped up in sexually frustrated guitar riffs (courtesy: Carl Barat) and melodies (and lyrics and lines) that has been tread and retread by bands over the past decade with little to no success. None of the members have ever come close to making an album as perfect as this since the split of the Libertines, nor will a reunion be able to come near or top this – although the only thing keeping me from a reunion will be my own death.

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Welcome to my top gigs of this year, 2009! I saw close to 100 which was… amazing, exciting, wonderful, whatever you want. It was tough to pick these gigs let alone put them in order but here we go….

10) Dananananaykroyd @ Dirty Dog Bar, SXSW, Austin, March 18th
dananana10

Dananananaykroyd are so energetic live it’s almost unreal. They’re like the Energizer Bunny on meth or something similar and freaky. They amount of joy and humor and jumping and yelling at each gig is unreal. To add to this, this was my first show at SXSW where I got to go into a 21+ show (thnx, Sarah Pesin!) so I was even more jacked up. Hearing one of my favorite songs of the year, ‘Some Dresses’, live was just amaaazing and the Wall of Cuddles was just so excellent. Perfect way to start my SXSW 2009.

DOWNLOAD -> SOME DRESSES by DANANANANAYKROYD

9) Fool’s Gold @ The Echo, LA, April 27th
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This show just fucking expanded my mind in a completely non-stoner kind of way. Each Fool’s Gold show that I’ve been to has such a wonderful sense of community and the joy just radiates from the band to the crowd, this time it was a bunch of Echo Parque hipsters who were grooving to their ‘world music’ and sensational beats and horn sections. The freedom and structured jams are what make Fool’s Gold gigs almost spiritual but without the ’seriousness’ of that word. This was the last night of their April residency at the Echo that launched them into national view. Rightly so.

DOWNLOAD -> SURPRISE HOTEL by FOOL’S GOLD

8) King Khan & The Shrines @ The Echo, LA, May 30th
kk47

King Khan & The Shrines played two nights at the Echo in May 2009. Choosing between them was one of the toughest choices I’ve had in a long time (hello, I have an easy life!) but I think the second night trumped the first. Both had an incredible amount of energy and ridiculous outfits and organ and sax to boot. Both had King Khan being a crazy motherfucker with a voice from who knows where. What put me over the top, you ask, in favor of the second night? One of the Shrines getting up on the amp, pulling down his pants and tucking it back and waving it around during ‘I Wanna Be A Girl’. Yep, folks, that’s all it takes to sway me. Both these nights were FUCKING excellent. King Khan was one of the performers I saw most during 2009, and I bow down to him anytime I see him. So great.

DOWNLOAD -> NO REGRETS by KING KHAN & THE SHRINES

7) Beans on Toast @ Friends Bar, SXSW, Austin, March 20th
bot5

Beans on Toast has one of the greatest ethos’ in music today. He’s just a street poet who stands on a chair and plays a childs guitar and sings rudimentary songs with social and political commentary with plenty of humor and an excellent penchant for rhyming. This was such a special gig. I’ve loved his hilarious music since 2006 but had no idea who he was and thought I’d never see him live and then I met him at Jay Jay Pistolet’s gig and got to get to know the man a little – he’s such a hilarious little thing (Yeah, I’ve told this story about 1500 times but STILL), and seeing him at FRIENDS Bar just was … amazing. He’s so hilarious and the entire crowd was hanging on every word. Who else could get an entire crowd (cocaine users and non alike) to raise their hands and proudly proclaim they were addicted to cocaine?

DOWNLOAD -> FUCK THE SMOKING BAN by BEANS ON TOAST

6) The Strange Boys @ The Echo, LA, June 30th
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The Strange Boys have been a live favorite of mine since early 2008. They continuously blow me away with their refreshing take on Nuggets-esque Garage Rock, their cool swagger, and Sambol’s howling caterwaul. This show was particularly amazing because of the support: The Growlers. The combination of the two was just unstoppable. The Strange Boys were way on the top of their game, but it feels weird to be going on and on about it because they are always that good. I’ve never seen them perform poorly, even the time I saw them playing in front of people playing dodgeball. No joke. The second best band in America right now – behind the Growlers. Funny how that happens.

DOWNLOAD -> DRUGS IGGY DRUGS by THE STRANGE BOYS

5) The Sonics @ The Echoplex, LA, August 21st

The Sonics. THE SONICS! I can’t even describe, figuratively or literally, what it was like to see these legends. IT’S THE FUCKING SONICS!!!! When they played ‘Have Love, Will Travel’, I was brought to my knees. They lumbered out of their coffins to give us an amazing early show at the Echoplex proving that the old timers (not to be confused with Alzheimers) still fucking GOT IT. They could actually play their instruments with dexterity, but that didn’t take away from the grungy, can’t-get-outta-the-garage, lo-fi before lo-fi was a real thing feel that has made the Sonics the legends that they are. Not to mention that Freddie Dennis can fucking sing. It was just deleriously amazing.

DOWNLOAD -> SHOT DOWN by the SONICS

4) The Maccabees @ Komedia, Brighton, September 29th

The Maccabees played a part in bringing together one of the most important friendships of my young life during their first American tour back in 2007, so seeing them play in Brighton at a much smaller venue than they could get away with – with the important friends…. just BLEW MY MIND! They fucking stormed the Komedia and played with more confidence and energy and …. experience than I’d ever have expected from them. Their second album hadn’t done anything for me up to that point, but hearing those songs echoing live and Orlando’s expansive, unique vocals really brought it together for me and from that gig, it became one of my favorite albums of 2009.

DOWNLOAD -> DIAMOND SOLITAIRE by THE MACCABEES

3) Black Lips @ Glasshouse, Pomona, May 2nd
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Having severly disappointed me the evening before at The El Rey, I wasn’t expecting much out of the Black Lips. I know that’s rude, but I’d seen them like 7 times in the past 13 months or something so what more could they bring to the table? However, they came out and bounced back from the shitshow that was the El Rey and rocked my world. It was singularly the most rough, dangerous Black Lips gig I’d ever been to (bruised ribs for two weeks to prove it, ROCK AND ROLL) and Jared even stepped on my head! They played everything I wanted them to play and the energy and atmosphere, while way more rough than LA was just so much more… Black Lips! I emerged drenched with sweat, severly hurt and grinning like a maniac. That’s how I always want to leave shows.

DOWNLOAD -> NOT A PROBLEM (from LOS VALIENTES DEL MUNDO NUEVO) by THE BLACK LIPS

2) The Growlers @ Bootleg Theatre, LA, October 30th
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I wish that I had taken photos of this gig. The costumes for the halloween gig were just incredible. But that’s to say nothing of the gig, which was just the best time I’ve ever seen the Growlers, who just like the Strange Boys are consistently consistent at being amazing. This gig was a two hour long Snake Sex special that saw Brooks Nielsen just act like a snake charmer – goading the audience into the most ridiculous dancing (MYSELF INCLUDED HOLY SHIT); and at the same time being charmed himself by Matt Taylor and the rest of the band. They played like a Greatest Hits (not their first album, just all their best ones) including ‘Underneath Our Palms Blues’ which saw me practically writhing on the floor from joy and amazement. And if my endorsement is not enough… Fab Moretti and Devendra were there. The Growlers are the best band in LA. Period.

DOWNLOAD -> UNDERNEATH OUR PALMS BLUES by THE GROWLERS

1) Peter Doherty @ The Roundhouse, London, September 20th

I felt really weird about making this my number one gig of the year due to the fact Doherty and I have fallen out a little bit this year, but nonetheless I’d been waiting almost 5 years to see this motherfucker turn up for a show (see: France, 2006). But he did turn up and it was beyond all my wildest dreams. We were on the left-hand side of the stage and I was peering backstage and I saw this tall man in a hat lighting a fag and I just didn’t know what to do with myself! Regardless of the fact that musically, I’ve almost moved on, Pete Doherty had a very heavy hand in shaping my world for a time and shaping my musical taste, too. Hearing songs from ‘Down in Albion’ one of my most played albums EVER just killed my heart. I was sad, to see all the production that went into his show frankly because he doesn’t need it. He doesn’t need an orchestra and five people on stage and two ballet dancers. He needs a mic and a fucking old guitar. But he has what he has, and he does what he does and he charms the bees knees off of everyone. ‘Arebours’ and ‘the 32nd of December’ and ‘For Lovers’? I have been and always will be a P.Doh fan and this sealed my fate: the most excellent concert of 2009.

DOWNLOAD -> A FOOL THERE WAS by PETER DOHERTY

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Here’s just another tribute to the Black Lips’ insanity/genius in the epic shrine to them that is my life. It comes from the ‘I’ll Be With You’ vinyl single. That’s the one that DOESN’T have Faris Badwan’s Boomkat cover of the song, that’s from the Drugs 7″, people, get it right! Anywho, this is ridiculous and wonderful – same as all Black Lips songs, but with the same kind of filthy/dirty-south-ness that they had circa Let It Bloom. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD -> YOU KNOW by BLACK LIPS

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categories: Funny, List
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Today I was perusing some top albums of the decade and top albums of the year lists and well, I wasn’t too impressed by a website called the Daily Californian. I mean, it just doesn’t have the same kind of ring that, say, a ‘Nu Rave Brain Wave’ has. But then again, I should’ve given it some credit being that California is the best place on the planet. Anywho, I was ready to mock and shame these sad music ‘writers’ by their lists surely dominated by M.I.A and Radiohead. THEN! Shock of all shocks, I saw a great list. Let me show you this list.

1. Is This It by the Strokes
2. Good Bad Not Evil by the Black Lips
3. White Blood Cells by the White Stripes
4. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
5. Up The Bracket by the Libertines
6. Veni Vidi Vicious by the Hives
7. Fever To Tell by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
8. Thunder, Lightning, Strike by the Go! Team
9. We Are Electrocution by Le Shok
10. Bad Dudes by Bad Dudes
11. C.Y.S.L.A.B.F. by Mika Miko
12. The Life Aquatic Soundtrack by Various Artists
13. Supreme Clientele by Ghostface Killah
14. Weirdo Rippers by No Age
15. Love Visions by Nobunny
16. Let It Bloom by the Black Lips
17. Stankonia by OutKast
18. Person Pitch by Panda Bear
19. Album by Girls
20. Boy In Da Corner by Dizzee Rascal
21. Turn On The Bright Lights by Interpol
22. The Bake Sale by the Cool Kids
23. Rockin’ The Suburbs by Ben Folds
24. Pet Sounds In The Key of Dee by Bullion
25. Myths of the Near Future by Klaxons

My god! Someone else on the planet will have Black Lips in their top albums of the Decade! With a capital D! Bryan Gerhart, get in contact, you have great taste. Read his wonderful review of the Lips’ newest album 200 Million Thousand.

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The two backing characters in most Black Lips interviews, Joe and Ian (although Ian’s grill does get a fair amount of attention) visited an Italian radio station to do an acoustic session. FYI, Cole and Jared were sleeping in the van. Yep. Joe’s talent behind the drums is well documented. His ability to do weird freaky zombie-esque things and be the only person keeping Black Lips actually grounded is unparalleled. He’s also got a lovely voice (blame it on the fact that he never smokes weed before shows to keep his range) and is a pretty talented song writer (I’m fairly sure that Not A Problem is his composition, too) and his song ‘Navajo’ really showcases that. He’s also probably the most coherent (and sober? not always but sometimes) of Black Lips and genuinely loves his job and is just a real standup guy. View the videos below and if you feel like it, download them as well. They’re excellent, AS PER FUCKING USUAL.

DOWNLOAD -> SO LONG TO CAROLINA by BLACK LIPS
DOWNLOAD -> NOT A PROBLEM by BLACK LIPS
DOWNLOAD -> NAVAJO by BLACK LIPS

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The Lips and Bombs triumphant 2006 tour ended with a couple of leftover hand-stamped singles. The Blacks deliver the country-styled original “Make It” while the Bombs forget the Eurythmics classic “Missionary Man” live and in mono. Sorry, they’re…gone – so said the record label but I am craftier than that and I bring to you ‘Make It’ and a live version from Robb’s house.

Make It (7″ Version)
Make It (Live @ Robbs House)

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If you’re down under for some reason in late January and early February, go see the boys playing some crazy festival or something.

Brisbane, Australia Laneway Festival (January 29)
Melbourne, Australia Laneway Festival (30)
Sydney, Australia Laneway Festival (31)
Auckland, Australia Laneway Festival (February 1)
Wellington, New Zealand SFBH (2)
Melbourne, Australia Corner Hotel (4)
Adelaide, Australia Laneway Festival (5)
Perth, Australia Laneway Festival (6)
Sydney, Australia Manning Bar (8)

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Nu Rave Brain Wave’s utmost favorites, and uber obsession Black Lips are coming back into Los Angeles. It’s purported as more dates in support of their 2009 record, ‘200 Million Thousand’, but I have a feeling it’s just because they don’t know how to do anything but tour really. The last time they took a large break from touring, it was like 3 months, and two WHOLE weeks were devoted to recording the record. This time, unlike the last million times they’ve come to LA, they’ll be playing The Detroit Bar, The Glasshouse and The El Rey. Just kidding, those are the venues they always play because there are no good venues in Costa Mesa or Pomona for them to play and because they cannot play the Echoplex in LA anymore and they’re too small for the Fonda and the Fonda sucks.

January 20th – The Detroit Bar, Costa Mesa, CA
January 22nd – The Glasshouse, Pomona, CA
January 23rd – The El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

Tickets for Detroit Bar are on sale and will probably go quickest, but there will be a special presale for the El Rey show on Thursday, October 5th at 10:00am. If you miss out, you can get tickets to see the Black Lips at the El Rey Theatre on Friday, October 6th at 10:00am and at 12:00pm noon for the Glass House show.

Fuck, I hope they tour the UK again really soon, I can’t fucking stand missing them 6 times in the course of 6 months, it’s completely unacceptable by my standards.

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The amalgamation of my favorite band + two of my other two favorite people/bands (ie: Black Lips, King Khan & BBQ/Mark Sultan) have been playing some small shows here and there inbetween their respectively crazy touring schedules. They did a show at CMJ and Brooklyn Vegan put up a nice review that I felt like sharing with you, with photos added. Then maybe some amazing videos that are killing me, and then maybe, possibly some of my thoughts on their album:

While the previous two bands might have strived to achieve an organic quality to their electronic landscapes, The Almighty Defenders had enough of it to start a West Village co-op. Perhaps a little too much; at times their choir-robe sporting performance came off as mildly contrived attempts at irreverently performed traditional gospel-tinged rock sprouting out of the soil. Their dynamism as performers couldn’t be discounted however, as they stirred the crowd into a frenzy with a nearly hour long drunken sermon of soulful garage bliss.

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This indie “supergroup” has stumbled on a unique dynamic; coupling the best elements of the ultimate divisiveness that is the Black Lips’ style – an undying energy and a solid rhythm section – with the grandiose stage presence and musical abilities of King Khan and his long time partner Marc Sultan (BBQ Show). To all that add the Kentucky-fried-church sing-a-long, ebulliently spilling from the stage. Songs full of cheering, Bible-quoting, and plucky reverb-heavy guitar lines with lots of claps and tambourine sparkle defined their whole performance for the most part. Not that the crowd at Roots Studios seemed to mind; if anything, they might have seen the light.

The baptismal experience was nearly complete with the addition of a “communion ceremony,” where guzzles from a Jameson whiskey bottle were administered to parishioners, that is audience members in the front row, poured with a steadfast hand by Black Lips member Cole Alexander.

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It provided a fitting image for a show that might have sparked the first born-again revival in Williamsburg’s ever-growing cultural history. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition.

I’m Coming Home

Bow Down & Die

The Almighty Defenders – Self Titled Debut

So the very premise of The Almighty Defenders in all likelihood is going to split the world’s constituents into two categories. The first will probably be pissing themselves thinking the amount of talent contained in the members: King Khan himself, the BBQ aka Mark Sultan, and the entirety of the Black Lips. It’s like a match made in a disgusting Berlin garage. Oh wait… The second group will probably be rolling their eyes in disgust that the kings of the current garage revival all got together after the purported international incident where Black Lips got kicked out of India and recorded and album. I happen to be of the first persuasion. By that I mean, I was waiting on the edge of my seat until this album got released, and finally it’s here.

So the story goes that Black Lips went to India, got their cocks out and got kicked out of the country under threat of jail time. They were not heard from for a few days until “word” got back to Vice that they were holed up with King Khan and BBQ in a studio in Berlin, where Khan lives with the Shrines. Whether or not that whole incident was a plea for more publicity matters not, for the Almighty Defenders came out of it – a pairing which was made in Heaven (yes, the nightclub in London) and which many people were clamoring for long before Black Lips had even made a name for themselves. So it is with great pleasure and a fair amount of liquor, weed, and dirt under their fingernails that King Khan, BBQ and the Black Lips bring to you the Almighty Defenders debut.

‘Bow Down and Die’, although one of the first tracks released to promote this album, never gets old. It’s straight up hand clapping gospel Sunday morning tune with Cole’s dirty vocals and enough “harmonizing” to make it seem like a cat dying, this tune is grade A. But more importantly, I love how each song in its own way showcases the amazing things about each member of the band – things that may not necessarily get such a showcasing whilst they play in their day job bands. ‘Cone of Light’ showcases the elements that BBQ (Mark Sultan), Joe (Black Lips), and Ian (Black Lips) do quite well respectively: BBQ belts it out, making him currently the only singer in garage rock who can actually fucking sing; Joe is a machine behind the drums, urgent as ever; and Ian is rock solid on guitar, sneaking up on you making you think he’s a messy guitarist but actually working some type of magic. The Ghost With The Most is swampy sounding, with Jared getting to show his vocal muscles with a fair amount of reverb, “It takes a wicked man to blindly lead the blind”, sounds most like a Black Lips song probably due to Ian’s most underappreciated guitar line taking the back seat to Jared’s wailing. I’m Coming Home unites all their talents into a ‘love tune’ about a man coming home from war, syrupy bass line drives the tune forward with Cole, Joe, King Khan and BBQ taking scratchy vocal duties over a fairly blues guitar line. Gospel is not forgotten with everyone shouting, “I’m coming home, oh yeah!”

But make no mistake, this record is not polished. It’s cohesive in its almost otherworldly, saintly in a dirty way, gospel garage heavenly feel, but it’s still a product of those who make up the band. And what I mean by that is that these men are ridiculous, crazy, and like to fuck around and this record does have a few WTFuck moments, as we all knew it would. ‘Death Cult Soup ‘N Salad’ consists solely of weird noises (most I’m assuming made by Cole and Joe) over some pretty heavy, and by heavy I mean distorted and rudimentary, riffing that together make up this delectably titled song. ‘The Great Defender’…. All I can assume about this song is that crack was a main component in it’s creation.

So what remains to be seen is whether or not the material will play out live. The group has played less than a handful of shows, including the Sell Out Festival, oh excuse me, Scion Garage Fest in Portland. But with the busy touring schedule each band keeps, with Khan and BBQ touring America in the fall, Black Lips touring the world for ever and ever, Mark Sultan coming out with a new album and the Shrines supposedly coming out with a new album soon – it doesn’t look good for the Defenders live show, but performances like the aforementioned CMJ prove that I may not know what the fuck I’m talking about. ‘Mon the Almighty Defenders world tour of 2010.

8/10

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wtfblacklips

Please click on the photo to see the exact wording, but the Black Lips, or someone acting on their behalf put up a bulletin about how they were playing Carson Daly. I could honestly stop there. Why would a great band like the Lips lower themselves to play such a non-event show that has to pay people to come be in the audience. Pathetic. But moreover, they’re quoted as saying, “We know some of you have bedtimes, but now’s the time to sneak around those parental units and check out the show.” Did I leave the country for 5 minutes and Black Lips fans suddenly become Bon Iver fans? HELP.

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+Wavves [Part 3 of 3] from Ray Concepcioñ on Vimeo.

Recognize that first song? If you’re reading this, most likely you know its my favorite cocksuckers, THE BLACK LIPS. I dunno when or where or why this video was made, but whoever made it cracked me the fuck up.

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# In & Out 7″ (Slovenly Recordings, 2005, 702-49)

1. In & Out
2. Stuck In My Mind

The second of the duo of singles from Atlanta’s BLACK LIPS — these are some of the bands earliest recordings from 2000 — four killers previously unreleased and exclusive to Slovenly! What are you waiting for?

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This is the April 2009 release in the Sub Pop Singles Club 3.0 that was limited to 1500 copies on pink and blue vinyl. Due to pressing problems, the 7″ wasn’t actually released until early May. Honestly, this was released with absolutely no fanfare, it’s just due to my indescribable love for Black Lips that I came across these two songs. Their singles, especially the rare ones, are such good tracks. So scuzzy, so dirty, so rockin’. It’s just hard to believe that not everyone in the world is obsessed with this band the way I am. 99 Victs is my favorite of the two, but in no way am I saying that Disconnection is bad. Download ASAP.

Black Lips – Disconnection 7″

Disconnection
99 Victs

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bl8Apparently, Wavves and Jared got into it. Here’s Wavve’s statement. What he needs to know is JAREDS MARRIED HOMIE, rock ‘n roll.

“Talking shit about me on the Internet is one thing, I can handle that all day but when some dude is just looking for a fight at 4 in the morning talking shit to my face and his girlfriend is spitting in the face of all my friends it’s a whole different story. I have no problem wih black lips or anybody else that i havent met but jared has been at me every chance he had. I just want to play music and have fun. It was unfortunate that it escalated to that point but he got what was coming to him.”- Nathan Williams (WAVVES)

Wavves, I love you, but don’t fight Jared. See his statement to Buddyhead below:
“First of all, I just wanna say that Wavves was NOT involved in that fight. That faggot didn’t even touch me.

I’ve never “come after” that kid, it wasn’t four a.m., that wasn’t my girlfriend, no one was spitting, and I didn’t attack him. I don’t give a shit about that kid and his music.

What happened was, after we finished our set I went to Daddy’s with some friends and saw that faggot from Wavves talking to a photographer friend of mine. The only thing I did was walk up to him and say “You’re that faggot from Wavves and I don’t like you”. He smiled a bit but didn’t say anything.

After that, I went outside and saw their tour manager hanging around with some guys. They started getting all chuckles with me and so I told them I wasn’t gonna have it. After that, Wavves tour manager hit me square in the face with a bottle. Blood started pouring out and six dudes fucking started kicking me until I blacked out.

All I remember is getting hit with the bottle and my friends dragging me to another bar. They wrapped my head up until I looked like a Confederate soldier.

So yeah, I lost the fight.

I also missed three flights. I’ve been in the airport all day having stewardesses cleaning my head because it kept cracking open. You can’t go on board if you’re bleeding.

Bottom line is that faggot from Wavves didn’t even hit me. Never touched me. And he should’ve, cuz he had a free shot.

He’s coming to Atlanta October 3rd and we’re gonna get ugly on him. We’re gonna destroy their van, we’re gonna destroy their faces, we’re gonna get crazy on em’. Nasty style.”

If I learned anything, it’s dont fucking mess with Black Lips. Cole got beaten up at a Modest Mouse gig…. That’s practically impossible. GO BLACK LIPS.

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Final-poster-artDid I mention that you can get in free to this bitch by RSVP’ing HERE???

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Deborah Kee Higgins (ATP organizer) to the Village Voice: We have a “No Assholes” policy. You can play once because we don’t know you’re an asshole, but you can’t play twice.

Barry Hogan (ATP organizer): Killing Joke and the Butthole Surfers will never play ATP again, and they can both suck my balls. And you can put that in print. The Black Lips will never play again–they’re assholes. They broke into a chalet and started stealing stuff.

Higgins: Liquor.

But guess what? We here at NRBW … DONT GIVE A FUCK!!!! BLACK LIPS FOREVER! I hope they had fun at Fucked Up at the Smell last night and that they TEAR THE SHIT out of FYF (aka WTF) Fest today. Here is my response to the above:

25q3nko

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I am going to ignore the fact that this is a complete corporate sell out for all the bands involved, but hey, Jay/Black Lips/King Khan are a little older now, they don’t shit and spit (well…) on each other that much more these days, and HEY, it can’t be cheap paying for an apartment that you never live in, but regardless, the best bands in the world will be playing the free Scion Garage Fest, coming to Portland, Oregon on October 17.

The festival will go down at four venues: Satyricon, Berbati’s Pan, Someday Lounge, and Dante’s. Roky Erickson, the former 13th Floor Elevators frontman and general all-around psych-rock O.G., will headline. The bill also includes Black Lips, Jay Reatard, the King Khan and BBQ Show, the Almighty Defenders (the supergroup featuring the Black Lips, King Khan, and Mark Sultan), the Dirtbombs, the Deadly Snakes (reunited!), Simply Saucer, the Dutchess and the Duke, Harlem, Box Elders, the Beets, Fresh & Onlys, the Coathangers, and many others.

http://www.scion.com/garagefest/

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The Mighty Black Lips are coming back to London for a secret pre-Reading/Leeds festival show and we’ve got the deets!

LONDON: Dirty Water Club @ Boston Music Room
THU 27TH AUG, 2009 8pm–Midnight

First band on 8.30pm, then 9.30pm, headliner at 10.30pm

Apparently, there’s about 20 tickets left to buy, then 50 will be held to be sold on the day of the event. GET EM! Or more info @ The FB Event Page.

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