Black Lips announce UK tour dates
Famed for their wild on-stage antics – which have historically included puke, piss, stage invasions, and general anarchy – Black Lips have taken their garage-punk sound around the world. Now, fresh off the back of releasing their tenth studio album, Apocalypse Love, the band has announced a string of UK tour dates.
Black Lips have always had a knack for doing the unexpected. Fireworks and flaming guitars are what you’d expect at a raucous punk show, but connecting with fans in the Middle East and touring across politically volatile countries like Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq? Not so much. And that’s before getting into the deal they very nearly wound up striking with Tesco, a major British supermarket who wanted to use their track ‘Veni Vidi Vici’ on one of their adverts in 2008. Sadly for shoppers who were fans of Atlanta blues and meal deals, upon closer inspection, their lyrics about Messiahs and a holy war didn’t quite fit.
Apocalypse Love is cut from the same, not quite suitable for daytime advertising cloth. It’s a love letter to 1960s surf rock, featuring flashes of a modern lo-fi sound alongside juke-box Americana. Zumi Rosow, singer and saxophonist, said: “it’s a weird dance record, one that reflects the moment that the world’s in right now”.
Underneath the chaos the album promises, which a press release promised will deliver “Soviet synths, Benzedrine stupors, coup de’ tats, stolen valor, and certified destruction, all set against a black setting sun” – is a slick, but characteristically spacey, psychedelic record. Stand-out singles include ‘No Rave’ for the synth fans, and ‘Among The Dunes’ for their more downbeat bluesy rock sound.
Entering their third decade together after a fair share of line-up changes, Apocalypse Love sees the addition of Jeff Clarke’s writing and Oakley Munson on drums. Bassist Jared Swilley said the album was “a mix of all the influences that we’ve accumulated over the years. Whether we’re doing an electronic song or a country song, it’s all filtered through us, there’s a distinctive way that we do stuff, so every song has our mark on it.”
To hear their trademark sound in a venue near you, check the dates below.
Black Lips UK tour dates:
- 25 Apr: Heaven, London, UK
- 26 Apr: Patterns, Brighton, UK
- 28 Apr: Projekts Skatepark, Manchester, UK
- 29 Apr: Stag and Dagger, Edinburgh, UK
- 30 Apr: Stag and Dagger, Glasgow, UK
- 01 May: Future Yard, Birkenhead, UK
And to hear their trademark sound performed on the back of a white horse, check out the video for ‘Lost Angel’ below.
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