Coming from Atlanta, Georgia, The Black Lips formed in 2000. The band originally was made up of Alexander Cole on guitar, Jared Swilley on bass, Ben Eberbaugh on lead guitar and Joe Bradley on drums. Taking their sound from a variety of bands and music styles such as Punk, Country, Blues, Folk, and Garage Rock, The Black Lips created a mix of the styles that has been called "Flower Punk" by some. They released a 7" single titled Ain't Comin' Back in 2002 on their own label. A few more singles followed and after some live shows (most of which were out of control which led to them being banned from some live venues), they got a recording deal with Bomp! Records. After recording their first full length album for Bomp! and getting ready to go out on a tour, the band suffered a loss. Lead guitarist Ben Eberbaugh was killed in a car accident involving a drunk driver. The band decided to carry on because they felt that Ebernaugh would have wanted them to.
After touring as a three piece, the band recruited Jim Hines on lead guitar. With Hines on lead, they set out for a longer tour in support of their album. In 2003 The Black Lips! was released. The album mixed elements of Punk, Garage Rock and Blues, creating an album of energetic, dirty Rock N' Roll. The bands second album was released in May of 2004. We Did Not Know The Forest Spirit Made Flowers Grow, was a reference to a movie by Hayao Miyazaki. Musically the album unleashed more Black Lips style Garage Rock fused with Punk Rock. In 2004 following the release of their second album, The Black Lips added guitarist Ian Saint Pé to their rants (replacing Jim Hines on lead guitar). Shortly after the album Let It Bloom was released on In The Red records in 2005. They sounded more professional and focused on this album, combining elements of bands such as The Fall, Velvet Underground and The Cramps to their Garage Rock and Punk sound.
In 2006, The Black Lips were featured in Rolling Stone magazine and Spin gaining them more exposure in a more national radius. A live album was released on Vice Records in 2007. Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo is a live album that has been said to have been recorded at a bar in Tijuana, Mexico. Some people have said it was made to sound like a live album and that it was actually recorded in a studio. A full length album came in the same year titled Good Bad Not Evil. This album, whose title is a reference the song "Give Him A Big Kiss" by The Shangri-Las, combined elements of Garage Rock with Surf Rock and some Country. The album featured songs such as the catchy "O, Katrina!", the slow and moody "Veni Vidi Vici", the Surf Pop of "Navajo", and the salty Pop of "Bad Kids". The band appeared on US television performing "O, Katrina!" on Late Night With Conan O'Brien and on UK television performing "Bad Kids" on The Wall in support of the album.
The Black Lips were set to star in the movie Let It Be as a fictional band in the 1980s called The Renegades. The movie was going to be made in the summer of 2008 and a trailer for the movie was made, but after viewing the trailer the band backed out stating that they did not like the way that they were going to be portrayed in the movie. The Black Lips fifth full length album, 200 Million Thousand was released in 2009. The album features more of a fuzzy Garage Rock sound than Good Bad Not Evil. While there are other elements in this album, there are stand out tracks such as "Short Fuse", "Drugs", the creepy "Trapped In A Basement", and a cover of The Iguanas (Iggy Pop's first band) "Again & Again". In January of 2009 while the band was on tour, they stopped in Berlin, Germany with King Khan & BBQ to make some recordings. Calling themselves The Almighty Defenders, the band recorded a twelve song album of Gospel songs. The album is set to be released in September 2009. More information on The Black Lips can be found on their websites Black-lips.com and theblacklips.blogspot.com.
The Play List:
1. The Subways - Mary
2. The Clean - Moonjumper
3. Supergrass - The Return Of...
4. The Dead Weather - You Just Can't Win
5. Reigning Sound - Stick Up For Me
6. Jack-O & The Tennessee Tearjerkers - Make Your Mind Up
7. The Modernettes - New Society
8. Les Mods - Break It
9. The Cinch - Forwards & Backwards
10. The Manvils - Hollow Hands
11. The Balconies - Lulu
12. Fast Romantics - MoneyMouth
13. The Paper Cranes - Chivalry's Dead
14. Blondie - I'm Gonna Love You Too
15. Nervus Rex - Don't Look
16. The Babies - Meet Me In The City
17. The Zoomers - From The Planet Moon
18. The Unwanted - Freedom
19. Franz Ferdinand - All For You, Sophia
20. Subway Sect - Ambition
21. Talking Heads - Artists Only (Alternate Version)
22. The Black Lips - Navajo
23. The Black Lips - Bad Kids
24. The Black Lips - Again & Again
To download this week's show visit the CJAM archives and select the files 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM on September 1st, 2009.
Black Lips Videos:
Feels Alright
Cold Hands
O Katrina!
Bad Kids (Live)
Veni Vidi Vici
Short Fuse
Drugs
I'll Be With You
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