For three albums spanning five years the band maintained a reputation that ranked them among the highest or lowest (depending on how you look at it) in the race toward repugnance not solely due to their stage performance—which included a variety of bodily fluids—but for the generally scum-driven sound they made work so well.

All of that seemed to change with the release of 2007’s Good Bad Not Evil when the band suddenly garnished some form of terrainian recognition and for the first time pulled themselves from below ground to find an audience waiting for them, an audience who they would promptly alienate with the madness noise of their next release 200 Million Thousand.  Now with Arabia  Mountain the boys seem to be making an attempt at digging themselves from the dirt once again.

It’s not that the album lacks the Lips’ characteristic griminess.  The grime is still there, but it’s a digestible grime, the sort of grime you’d let your son play with but wouldn’t quite trust to take out your daughter.  It has something to do with the fact that the album was produced by Mark Ronson who has worked with such big names as Amy Winehouse (who you should just keep away from your kids altogether).  He gives the record a kind of dirty 60’s, beach dance-vibe complete with blaring saxes and tambourines accompanied hand-claps.  The whole thing feels like a Kinks or Beach Boys album on PCP.

But if Arabia Mountain seems more mature, it is not the work of the producer alone.  The songs are characteristically playful and raunchy, but they lack some of the broad-swinging emotions prevalent throughout the band’s previous releases which alternated back and forth from extreme joy to bellicose, nihilistic posturing.  “Time is moving on,” the band tells us in the upbeat and almost hand-jiving track “Time”.  The Black Lips are feeling it, and it seems like they’re moving on with it.  But will they move toward this new acceptance or recoil from it?  One thing is sure; whatever they do it will be unpredictable and layered with distortion.

NEW BRIAN BUTLER-DIRECTED “MODERN ART” VIDEO PREMIERED YESTERDAY, TOUR BEGINS TODAY IN CARRBORO

Gearing up for what amounts to nearly three solid months of touring (full dates below), Atlanta’s “flower punk” progenitors Black Lips yesterday released a mind warping new video for Arabia Mountain track “Modern Art” via Pitchfork. The song marks the first publicly available taste of the nine album cuts (of 16 total) produced by top 40 pop mastermind Mark Ronson, and features some of the long murmured-about new instrumentation that resulted from the collaboration, including a rare pitch-perfect performance on singing saw. The 2 minute blast of visual psychedelia comes courtesy of Brian Butler, friend and protégé of celebrated arthouse director and Manson family documentarian Kenneth Anger. Butler’s clip offers a solid nod to his primary field of expertise, the occult, transpiring in the dark, other-worldly interior of New Orleans’s Saturn Bar, lined with the anachronistic paintings of Michael Frolich, and featuring a co-starring cast that includes a human skull, a squid, and a rooster. Click the link below to take a trip to the other side.

UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
(all April dates w/ Vivian Girls)
4/6/11 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
4/7/11 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
4/8/11 Washington, DC Black Cat
4/9/11 Philadelphia, PA The Trocadero
4/12/11 New York, NY Webster
4/13/11 Pawtucket, RI The Met
4/14/11 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
4/15/11 Montreal, QC Le National
4/16/11 Toronto, ON Phoenix Concert Theatre
4/17/11 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
4/19/11 Columbus, OH Outland Live
4/20/11 Newport, KY Southgate House
4/21/11 St. Louis, MO The Firebird
4/22/11 Chicago, IL Logan Square Auditorium
4/23/11 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
4/25/11 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
4/26/11 Kansas City, MO The Beaumont Club
4/27/11 Dallas, TX The Loft
4/28/11 Austin, TX Emo’s
4/29/11 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s
4/30/11 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon

5/6/11 Barcelona, SP Bikini Venue
5/7/11 Santiago de Compostela Sala Capitol
5/8/11 Madrid, SP Sala Heineken
5/9/11 Montpellier, FR Rockstore
5/11/11 Strasbourg, FR La Laterie
5/12/11 Hamburg, DE Grunspan
5/13/11 Berlin, DE Festsaal Kreuzberg
5/14/11 Munich, DE Garge Fest (Feierwerk)
5/16/11 Amsterdam, NL Trouw Amsterdam
5/17/11 Paris, FR 104
5/18/11 Brussels, BE Les Nuits Botanique
5/19/11 London, UK The Garage
5/20/11 Liverpool, UK Sound City Fetival (The Masque)
5/21/11 Cheshire, UK Friends Of Mine Festival
5/22/11 Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club
5/24/11 Glasgow, UK Stereo
5/25/11 Dublin, IRL The Button Factory
5/26/11 Cork, IRL Cypress Avenue
5/27/11 Galway, IRL Roisin Dubh
5/31/11 Zurich, CH Exil

(all June dates w/ Cerebal Ballzy)
6/9/11 San Diego, CA The Casbah
6/10/11 Santa Barbara, CA Velvet Jones
6/11 & 12 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
6/14/11 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
6/15/11 Vancouver,BC Commodore Ballroom
6/16/11 Seattle, WA Neumos
6/17/11 Boise, ID Knitting Factory Concert House
6/18/11 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
6/19/11 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
6/21/11 Tucson, AZ Plush
6/22/11 Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room
6/23/11 Costa Mesa, CA The Detroit Bar
6/24/11 Los Angeles, CA The Music Box
6/25/11 Pomona, CA The Glass House

The Black Lips – Modern Arts video

NEW MARK RONSON-PRODUCED ALBUM IN STORES JUNE 7th ON VICE RECORDS

Founding fathers of Atlanta’s “flower punk” movement the Black Lips are set to release Arabia Mountain, their sixth full-length album, June 7th on longtime label Vice Records. Arabia Mountain was recorded between Brooklyn and Atlanta over the last few months of 2010 and with the collaborative assistance of celebrated DJ and producer Mark Ronson, Lockett Pundt of Deerhunter, and a human skull with a microphone jammed into it.

Arabia Mountain also marks the first time the Lips have worked with an outside producer. Mark Ronson, best known for his production work with the likes of Nas, Adele, Kaiser Chiefs, Duran Duran, Lily Allen, and Amy Winehouse, recorded nine of the album’s tracks at MetroSonic studios in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, amid a 10-day bender of late nights and one hospital visit. He then came back to Atlanta’s Living Room studio for an additional 5 days to add the finishing touches.

“I was already a fan of the Black Lips coming into it and I definitely didn’t want to fuck up anything,” Ronson told Rolling Stone in December. And fuck up he did not. The production tests the limits of modern amplification technology, harkening to the full, meaty sound of Fun House or Lola Versus Powerman or whatever your favorite record of 1970 is.

The Black Lips will be touring the new material up and down the Eastern Seaboard with garage-pop ladyband the Vivian Girls in April, and again on the West Coast with skateboarding hardcorers Cerebral Ballzy. Full dates below.

ARABIA MOUNTAIN TRACKLISTING

1. Family Tree
2. Modern Art *
3. Spidey’s Curse *
4. Mad Dog *
5. Mr. Driver *
6. Bicentennial Man «
7. Go Out And Get It «
8. Raw Meat *
9. Bone Marrow *
10. The Lie *
11. Time
12. Dumpster Dive
13. New DIrection *
14. Noc-a-homa
15. Don’t Mess My Baby *
16. You Keep On Running

* produced by Mark Ronson
« produced by Lockett Pundt

WATCH EXCLUSIVE VIDEO OF BLACK LIPS IN THE STUDIO WITH MARK RONSON AT ROLLINGSTONE.COM

BLACK LIPS SXSW SHOWS:
3/16/11 Van’s Showcase Emo’s
3/17/11 VICE Showcase Club Deville
3/18/11 Filter Showcase Lustre Pearl

UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
(all April dates w/ Vivian Girls)
4/6/11 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
4/7/11 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
4/8/11 Washington, DC Black Cat
4/9/11 Philadelphia, PA The Trocadero
4/12/11 New York, NY Webster
4/13/11 Pawtucket, RI The Met
4/14/11 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
4/15/11 Montreal, QC Le National
4/16/11 Toronto, ON Phoenix Concert Theatre
4/17/11 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
4/19/11 Columbus, OH Outland Live
4/20/11 Newport, KY Southgate House
4/21/11 St. Louis, MO The Firebird
4/22/11 Chicago, IL Logan Square Auditorium
4/23/11 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
4/25/11 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
4/26/11 Kansas City, MO The Beaumont Club
4/27/11 Dallas, TX The Loft
4/28/11 Austin, TX Emo’s
4/29/11 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s
4/30/11 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon

5/6/11 Barcelona, SP Bikini Venue
5/7/11 Santiago de Compostela Sala Capitol
5/8/11 Madrid, SP Sala Heineken
5/9/11 Montpellier, FR Rockstore
5/11/11 Strasbourg, FR La Laterie
5/12/11 Hamburg, DE Grunspan
5/13/11 Berlin, DE Festsaal Kreuzberg
5/14/11 Munich, DE Garge Fest (Feierwerk)
5/16/11 Amsterdam, NL Trouw Amsterdam
5/17/11 Paris, FR 104
5/18/11 Brussels, BE Les Nuits Botanique
5/19/11 London, UK The Garage
5/20/11 Liverpool, UK Sound City Fetival (The Masque)
5/21/11 Cheshire, UK Friends Of Mine Festival
5/22/11 Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club
5/24/11 Glasgow, UK Stereo
5/25/11 Dublin, IRL The Button Factory
5/26/11 Cork, IRL Cypress Avenue
5/27/11 Galway, IRL Roisin Dubh
5/31/11 Zurich, CH Exil

(all June dates w/ Cerebal Ballzy)
6/9/11 San Diego, CA The Casbah
6/10/11 Santa Barbara, CA Velvet Jones
6/11 & 12 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
6/14/11 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
6/15/11 Vancouver,BC Commodore Ballroom
6/16/11 Seattle, WA Neumos
6/17/11 Boise, ID Knitting Factory Concert House
6/18/11 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
6/19/11 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
6/21/11 Tucson, AZ Plush
6/22/11 Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room
6/23/11 Costa Mesa, CA The Detroit Bar
6/24/11 Los Angeles, CA The Music Box
6/25/11 Pomona, CA The Glass House

Atlanta’s Black Lips, notorious master artisans of hook-laden psychedelic garage-pop, and one of the most irresistible live bands around, are extending their US tour this summer. In addition to previously announced dates with Vivian Girls set for this April, the quartet will be bringing their sunny sounds up and down the west coast in June for a run of dates with NY’s punk/hardcore ragers Cerebal Ballzy. Fresh out of the studio with top 40 wizard Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Busta Rhymes, etc), the band will be showcasing new material from their upcoming new full length on Vice Music, tapped by Spin as one of their “30 Must-Hear Albums of 2011″.

New Tour Dates:
(all June dates w/ Cerebal Ballzy)
6/9/11 San Diego, CA The Casbah
6/10/11 Santa Barbara, CA Velvet Jones
6/11 & 12 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
6/14/11 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
6/15/11 Vancouver,BC Commodore Ballroom
6/16/11 Seattle, WA Neumos
6/17/11 Boise, ID Knitting Factory Concert House
6/18/11 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
6/19/11 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
6/21/11 Tucson, AZ Plush
6/22/11 Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room
6/23/11 Costa Mesa, CA The Detroit Bar
6/24/11 Los Angeles, CA The Music Box
6/25/11 Pomona, CA The Glass House

Previously Announced Dates:
(all April dates w/ Vivian Girls)
2/24/11 Miami, FL Grand Central * with Surfer Blood, Vivian Girls, Thee Oh Sees
2/25-2/28/11 Miami, FL Bruise Cruise *with Thee Oh Sees, Surfer Blood,Ty Segall
3/7/11 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jacks *with Quintron and Miss Pussycat
4/6/11 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
4/7/11 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
4/8/11 Washington, DC Black Cat
4/9/11 Philadelphia, PA The Trocadero
4/12/11 New York, NY Webster Hall
4/13/11 Pawtucket, RI The Met
4/14/11 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
4/15/11 Montreal, QC Le National
4/16/11 Toronto, ON Phoenix Concert Theatre
4/17/11 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
4/19/11 Columbus, OH Outland Live
4/20/11 Newport, KY Southgate House
4/21/11 St. Louis, MO The Firebird
4/22/11 Chicago, IL Logan Square Auditorium
4/23/11 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
4/25/11 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
4/26/11 Kansas City, MO The Beaumont Club
4/27/11 Dallas, TX The Loft
4/28/11 Austin, TX Emo’s
4/29/11 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s
4/30/11 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon

Widely renowned as one of the best rock live acts in the touring circuit, Atlanta’s supreme purveyors of psych-tinged garage-pop Black Lips are set to bring their raucous and jubilant stage antics across the US this summer. Fresh out of the studio with top 40 studio wizard Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Busta Rhymes, etc), the band will be debuting a smattering of new material from their upcoming new full length on Vice Music, tapped by Spin as one of their “30 Must-Hear Albums of 2011″. Joining the quartet will be NY trio Vivian Girls, whose new album is set to drop this spring on Polyvinyl.

Tour Dates:
(all April dates w/ Vivian Girls)
2/24/11 Miami, FL Grand Central * with Surfer Blood, Vivian Girls, Thee Oh Sees
2/25-2/28/11 Miami, FL Bruise Cruise *with Thee Oh Sees, Surfer Blood The Strange Boys, Ty Segall
3/7/11 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jacks *with Quintron and Miss Pussycat
4/6/11 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
4/7/11 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
4/8/11 Washington, DC Black Cat
4/9/11 Philadelphia, PA The Trocadero
4/12/11 New York, NY Webster Hall 4/13/11 Pawtucket, RI The Met
4/14/11 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
4/15/11 Montreal, QC Le National
4/16/11 Toronto, ON Phoenix Concert Theatre
4/17/11 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
4/19/11 Columbus, OH Outland Live
4/20/11 Newport, KY Southgate House
4/21/11 St. Louis, MO The Firebird
4/22/11 Chicago, IL Logan Square Auditorium
4/23/11 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
4/25/11 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
4/26/11 Kansas City, MO The Beaumont Club
4/27/11 Dallas, TX The Loft
4/28/11 Austin, TX Emo’s
4/29/11 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s
4/30/11 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon

The band will be receiving $5,000.00 for their participation in the event, the whole of which they will be donating to the Auditory Verbal Centre Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of deaf children, some of whom have been outfitted with cochlear implants in order to play music. More info on the charity can be found here: http://www.avchears.org/

The Black Lips are challenging the other players to do the same with their participation fees.

Here is a hilarious video to promote the bands’ involvement in the tournament. Check it out here:

Fans who want to see the tournament should stay tuned to The Black Lips’ Facebook page for ticket giveaways, or be one of the first 30 people to head down to Criminal Records (1154 Euclid Avenue Northeast) and sign up for the guest list.

Tickets giveaways will also be occurring through V103 Radio and various Atlanta music blogs.

Last week Black Lips took to the airwaves with their live performance of “Drugs”, the rough and rollicking single featured on their most recent album 200 Million Thousand (VICE Records). Filmed during their September 25th New York show supporting Yo La Tengo at the Roseland Ballroom, “Drugs” aired Thursday October 29th on NBC’s Last Call With Carson Daly. Capturing their near-legendary stage presence with a rager sure to please, whatever your substance of choice may be.

Following their wholesome All-American addictions for baseball and ice cream, their insatiable appetite for touring the world continues this January for a handful of shows throughout the West coast before embarking to Australia and Japan. See below for the full list of US and Australian tour dates.

“Drugs” live on Last Call with Carson Daly

Upcoming Tour Dates:
12/31/09 ATLANTA, GA THE EARL
1/20/10 COSTA MESA, CA THE DETROIT BAR
1/21/10 SAN FRANCISCO, CA GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL
1/22/10 POMONA, CA THE GLASSHOUSE
1/23/10 LOS ANGELES, CA EL REY THEATRE
1/24/10 SAN DIEGO, CA THE CASBAH
1/29/10 BRISBANE LANEWAY FESTIVAL
1/30/10 MELBOURNE LANEWAY FESTIVAL
1/31/10 SYDNEY LANEWAY FESTIVAL
2/01/10 AUCKLAND LANEWAY FESTIVAL
2/02/10 WELLINGTON SFBH
2/04/10 MELBOURNE CORNER HOTEL
2/05/10 ADELAIDE LANEWAY FESTIVAL
2/06/10 PERTH LANEWAY FESTIVAL
2/08/10 SYDNEY MANNING BAR

Black Lips, perhaps the world’s most nefariously consistent live band and raucous pioneers for a new generation of psychedelia-steeped garage rock have released their fourth video from 200 Million Thousand (VICE Records). For the searing gem “Let It Grow”, director Matt Dilmore filmed exclusively with the late 90′s kids camera Vidster, creating a unique effect incomparable in resolution to today’s HD standards but rife with character.

Appropriately translating the strange odyssey Black Lips traverse in the endlessly catchy song, Dilmore’s pixelated creation complements the nostalgic portrayal of reckless youthful abandon that the band does so well. The surreal journey follows an extraterrestrial-obsessed tourist through his desert travels, culminating in an iconic cameo by the oversized, blindfolded-and-squirming cat Queso (with negligible psychological trauma incurred).

Following up summer festival appearances at NXNE, Athfest, Pitchfork, and the Capitol Hill Block Party, Black Lips unending devotion to touring will bring them to the Scion Garage Fest and New Orleans’ Voodoo Experience, with headlining dates throughout the South.

Watch the “Let It Grow” video on Pitchfork.tv (from 200 Million Thousand on VICE Records):

Tour Dates:
10/09/09 AUSTIN, TX MOHAWK
10/17/09 PORTLAND, OR SCION GARAGE FEST
10/28/09 ASHEVILLE, NC THE ORANGE PEEL
10/29/09 NASHVILLE, TN MERCY LOUNGE
10/30/09 MEMPHIS, TN YOUNG AVE DELI
10/31/09 NEW ORLEANS, LA VOODOO EXPERIENCE

Playing to sold out crowds almost every night throughout Europe, Gringo Star have made a whole new bunch of fans from being the main support to And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. They now hit the road in the UK with fellow Atlantans, the Black Lips. The hardest working band from the South will return to these shores next month, playing select shows and festivals thoroughout the country. Keep your eye out for them ! Tour dates below.

Debut album, ‘All Y’all’ , OUT NOW (My Anxious Mouth)

Watch the video for ‘Come On Now’ here:

UK DATES:

May 15 Stealth ** Nottingham
May 16 Roller-palooza** Sheffield
May 17 The Globe ** Cardiff
May 18 Firebug Leicester
May 20 TJ’s ** Leeds
May 21 Sound in the City Festival ** Liverpool
May 22 Crawdaddy ** Dublin
May 23 Classic Grand ** Glasgow
May 24 Academy 3** Manchester
May 25 Freebutt Brighton
May 26 Electric Ballroom ** London
May 28 Water Rats London
May 29 The Windmill London
May 30 Bacup Leisure Hall Bacup
May 31 The Joiners Southampton
Jun 1 The Bassment Chelmsford
Jun 2 Manuscript Ostend
Jun 3 Paridiso Amsterdam,
Jun 4 Ekko Utrecht

** with the Black Lips

US DATES:

Jul 1 The Basement Columbus, OH
Jul 2 Schuba’s Chicago, IL
Jul 3 Summerfest Milwaukee, WS
Jul 10 Sticky Fingerz Little Rock, AR
Jul 11 Downtown Street Festival Huntsville, AL
Jul 12 Forecastle Festival Louisville, KY
Jul 25 D-Fest Tulsa, OK
Jul 31 Backbooth Orlando, FL

“This Atlanta, Georgia foursome add layers of rural lilt to their Brit-ish pop, garagey grit to others, while sneaking out slight-psych guitar blasts and gang yalps when least expected. Their self-titled full-length on My Anxious Mouth is stunningly seasoned for a debut.”
CMJ.com

“They’ve got a killer name and killer tunes. Gringo Star are definitely a band on the rise.”
The Big Takeover

“With their excellent debut album, All Y’all, this Atlanta garage-rock band validate the buzz.”
Spin.com

“Reviewers have had nothing but glowing accolades for this upbeat, energetic and just plain fun collection of tunes, and I would mark All Y’all as one of the most exciting albums of the year, and, probably best debut release.” Blurt

“It’s worth picking up just for the title track, an infectious anthem of cynicism, filled with handclaps, multi-part harmonies and guitar hooks you can sink your teeth into.” Arkansas Times

“All Y’all proves the band’s no fluke. Fourteen tracks filled with swagger and spit. Few bands are able to bolt out of the starting gate with this much fire under their bellies.” Ink Kansas City