Just browsing Twitter earlier, and I saw a link to a blog post entitled, “The Implosion of King Khan & The BBQ Show” on Obscure Sound. I was immediately saddened, if this is actually going to stick, but here’s some choice quotes:

“This happened back in Australia,” said Sultan. “I mean, I patched things up there and thought we could make it until the end of the tour.” (Side note: the band’s three Korean dates in Daegu, Busan and Seoul were the very end of the tour anyway.) “But he’s really just an alcoholic,” and “I’m sick of the abuse. We’re not finishing the tour.” When I asked what would happen to the last two tour dates in Busan and Seoul, Sultan assured me that “I can play those shows myself. I write [and perform] 99% of the music.” Throughout our conversation, Sultan was completely relaxed and calm. He reiterated a few times that “I’m fine. I’m alright.”

I was witness the the implosion of a phenomenal garage rock duo whom I truly enjoyed. Khan and Sultan have been friends since the mid-90s, playing together since then, as well. Though it seems like this break-up is quite final, there’s always a chance things will work out between these two artists. Near the end of our conversation, Sultan explained that “Speaking as a friend, I just hope [Khan] gets the help he needs.”

What the hell? Find out the whole situation below, but this is awful: KK & The BBQ have their hands in many of my favorite bands and their friendship and working relationship was always something I loved but if BBQ is right, we here at NRBW hope Khan takes care of his shit so we can see him and his bands ASAP.

READ MORE OVER AT OBSCURE SOUND.

mp3 | King Khan & The BBQ Show - Too Much In Love

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 Р̩tage, 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

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