The Black Lips have, just within the past five years, become one of most prolific bands to ever pee or puke on stage. Like a gang of gypsies, they're constantly touring, and spent more time on the road, both here in the US and abroad, than any other band that comes to mind. Releasing five albums and a handful of singles over the past five years on such legendary labels as Bomp and In The Red, they've yet to sling a dud. Their songs contain a sense of dark lightheartedness that calls back to the output from New York's Lower Eastside folk scum movement with bands like The Fugs and The Godz, but departs with a modern learned apathy. With undertones that certainly celebrate the dark aesthetic of late sixties music, The Black Lips would be a band more likely to smoke weed from a gun barrel rather than put a flower in one. Originally from Atlanta Georgia, their unique collision of pop psychedelia and razored punk ennui lend to a sound completely new, and instantly classic.
After signing with Vice records last year, plans were made to record their debut album on the label live in Tijuana. With the help of John Reis, frontman for Rocket From the Crypt, it was recorded last summer at the tail end of their West coast tour, and Tuesday February 20th, the anxiously awaited fifth album from The Black Lips, Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo, will hit the shelves. The twelve track CD lives up to all the promise of their prior output and holds up to the intensity they portray on stage. Plowing though their catalog over the past number of years, their live sets have tightened up compared to the chaotic raves of their earlier shows and add balance to the mayhem of screaming, pissing, and puking, especially on this record. We also get a glimpse into what their future output may provide with the inclusion of a couple of new tunes, one of which is a hidden track, along with live video footage from the show are also included on the CD. You can order it directly from Vice HERE and look out for the vinyl version sometime in the near future on Die Slaughterhaus.
Check out a clip from the boys live in Tijuana right here...
