A good question to have asked any member of Black Lips in the past three weeks or so would have been: “How’s the next record coming along?”
What’s for sure is that it won’t include “Before You Judge Me” or “Best Napkin I Ever Had.” What’s also for sure is that the as of now untitled LP is done. Thanks to Ian for the public information. And he’s promised that it will be released in February of 2011, a good two years since 200 Million Thousand hit shelves.
Can’t wait!
SHANE SMITH, a founder of Vice, the streetwise, testosterone-fueled culture and fashion magazine, still chugs canned American beer. He still listens to Bad Brains. And he still favors tattered Vans skateboard shoes and black T-shirts. That much is the same.
Shane Smith, one of the founders of Vice magazine, on the Rocks Off concert boat with members of the band The Black Lips.
It is everything else that has changed.
Random new feature that tells of shows that happened in Boston (because that’s what we’re familiar with) that look highly unusual or unbelievable in hindsight.
#1 – BLACK LIPS Opening for THE PONYS @ TT THE BEARS – MARCH 27, 2007
There are a few oddities in this one! Obviously, Black Lips opening for The Ponys just wouldn’t sound right today. Since this gig, they’ve played a show at the Bank of America Pavilion opening for Raconteurs (reasonable) and three at the Middle East Downstairs. As for the Ponys, they’ve only been back here once and that was later in 2007 opening for Spoon. The Ponys did “breakthrough” before Black Lips with their March 2007 release of Turn the Lights Out on Matador. Black Lips would get their big break in September with their Vice studio debut Good Bad Not Evil. And finally…this was at TT The Bears, the little venue for national bands just starting to make the rounds across the country! Black Lips were doing their thing for 7 years before this show and The Ponys for at least 6!
Jared Swilley, bassist/vocalist of the best band ever, Black Lips, turns 27 years old today. As a honorary KLYAMer, we wish Jared the best on this day.
Here are some articles and things that I’ve found relating to this wonderful event:
My (Paul’s) Photos: LINK
Video of “Short Fuse”: LINK – Displays the craziness that was the crowd: crowd surfers, bumping into band members, useless “stage” guard, etc, etc. Also, you can hear the bass and guitar get cut out to the point where it’s basically Joe drumming and singing for a minute or so.
Metromix Photos: LINK – 109 photos that do a great job at capturing the actual show and the personalities on the boat.
CMJ: LINK – Great recap of the show. It does allege that the Lips played “Veni Vidi Vici,” but I could almost swear they didn’t.
If you have any pics or write-ups or videos or anything relating to this event, then comment away!
Date: Tuesday, August 2, 2010
Bands: K-Holes, Natural Child, Black Lips
Venue: The Temptress
Act One – K-Holes – The cock-sucking K-Holes! The band of former Black Lips guitarist Jack Hines and four other people including a trumpet player AND a drummer who keeps it simple: a bass drum, a floor tom, and a cymbal. K-Holes were very explosive and offered a big sound. Matter of fact, a certain cross-dresser in a certain red dress enjoyed it so much that he/she was crawling on the floor, laying out on a table, and having a rhythmic seizure during the duration of K-Holes set. Fun times! Also, some whippersnapper (not a part of the band) felt like screaming into the microphone at random times during the set. It was all in good fun, but who does that?!
Act Two – Natural Child – The favorite band of Rachel aka Pop Jew was a great band, indeed! Wait a sec: Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the
boogy. Okay, that out of the while. These guys had a song about people not understanding you, white people, and punks, a song dedicated to the Captain of the ship, and if I remember correctly, a song about fucking. All in the spirit of Kid Rock. They punk-rocked. The guitarist crowd surfed his way to the second floor to end their set. The bassist was having a great time and the drummer was doing his job in the background. I definitely will keep checking these guys out.
Act Three – BLACK LIPS – Black Lips pretty much keep topping their previous best show ever. At this pace, all my favorite shows will be Black Lips shows, but I mean they are my favorite band after all. In terms of crowd participation, this show set the bar. The moshing got to the point where the one security guard all but gave up after five minutes of trying to protect Jared from the stampede at the front of the stage. The guitars got unplugged at various points during the set (probably from people falling down)…Jared had to move back and actually face away from the crowd (never saw this done before), although all seemed to be well with the other three members of the band! People were singing along loudly during every single song and there was just the whole vibe of Black Lips in Tijuana except in New York and on a boat. The set may have been trimmed a bit due to the chaos on stage or because time was up, but the roughly one hour the band played was just amazing! Funny things of note: some kid yelling out requests of old rarely (maybe never) played live cuts “Hope Jazz” and “Time of the Scab” and some big jock hollering “OOOOOOOUUUUUU WEEEEEEEE!!!” after every song.
Set-List:
1. Sea of Blasphemy
2. Drugs
3. Make It
4. Short Fuse
5. O Katrina
6. Stranger
7. Not A Problem
8. Ain’t No Deal
9. Dirty Hands
10. Cold Hands
11. Ghetto Cross
12. (A song resembling “I Want Candy”)
13. Too Much In Love
14. Bad Kids
Grade: A+ – Best show I’ve seen!
Cruises are the latest fad in Rock and Roll, it seems. And why not? They are great! Well, how about this:
Bruise Cruise Festival is an exclusive music festival on the high seas. It brings together today’s most prominent and influential rock bands on a three-day tropical vacation from Miami to the Bahamas.
The cruise offers true music fans a chance to witness their favorite bands in a unique, intimate rock festival atmosphere while being whisked away on an exotic vacation. A special escape from the winter doldrums. This dream getaway will reward guests with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience a string of exclusive concerts against the backdrop of a completely inclusive, relaxing getaway.
The first Bruise Cruise will feature a who’s-who of the North American rock scene: The Black Lips, Vivian Girls, Strange Boys, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Turbo Fruits and – last but not least – one of New York’s most prominent soul DJs, Mr. Jonathan Toubin. The cruise will include a kick-off party in Miami, multiple concerts at sea and Nassau in the Bahamas, open-bar cocktail parties and a soul dance-off with cash prizes.
Amenities featured on board include: gambling, resort-style pools, water parks, spas, fine dining and more. The price of one ticket will cover all entertainment, lodging, meals and some drinks. In order to create a highly coveted experience, only 400 guests will be able to attend the first Bruise Cruise.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Black Lips were unable to make it Boston today for their scheduled cruise. BUT they will maybe make up for it in the future!
I hope they make it to NYC on Monday because I plan on going on that cruise to see my favorite band! Also, this Boston one was 21+ so if they do come back at a later date maybe it’ll be 18+ or something!
Since signing to Vice Records in 2006, the Black Lips have found a little more of everything: exposure, music videos, and world travel. Also included: a sponsorship from Vestal Watch. Ian seems to be the main guy in the band showing off Vestal on his midget bike.
Take a look:
Continue reading Black Lips – Vestal Watch
Awesome article in today’s Boston Globe. Mentions include Burger Records, the king of tapes, great local band Girlfriends, Black Lips, and the background of the screen you are looking at…Nobunny!
“…The story is the same for Burger Records, a music shop and tape label based in Fullerton, Calif., that just released the new MMOSS tape. It tends to do runs of 250 with handmade artwork, though high-selling tapes have earned repeat pressings. The lo-fi rock ’n’ roll Nobunny’s “Raw Romance’’ tops the discography at 1,000 copies to date, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a collectible already.
“One of those has sold for $40 on eBay,’’ says label head Sean Bohrman.
Bohrman got into releasing tapes just for kicks when he saw a friend’s band do it a few years ago. “We made CDs of two of our albums,’’ he says. “We still have hundreds and hundreds of copies of them. But we sell tons of tapes, so go figure.’’
Word has spread, and bigger labels are starting to complement wide releases with small runs of cassettes. Indie giants Sub Pop and Vice Records have started working with Bohrman to coordinate tape releases of bands like the Black Lips, Happy Birthday, and Jaill. The reason isn’t just to boost sales. Having a tape, especially one with homemade artwork, can reconnect with fans and ever-more-influential bloggers.”
Read the entire article: http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/07/23/the_underground_is_rewinding_to_revive_the_cassette/?page=1
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 