Last update - 00:00 04/06/2007
A drunk and disorderly kind of performance
By Ben Shalev
Nine out of 10 visiting rock bands come to Israel to perform when they are past their prime. They land here three, four, or even 30-40 years after they peak. On rare occasions, a band arrives here at the auspicious moment when the world, or at least the world of alternative music, first takes note of its existence. Black Lips, slated to arrive in Israel this weekend to perform three concerts in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, has now reached that exhilarating stage in their career. According to Rolling Stone magazine, "The Black Lips have become the band to name drop at loft parties in Brooklyn." Rolling Stone calls the group one of the best currently performing bands in the United States.
But Black Lips members would hardly find their to a trendy, Brooklyn loft. The four 23-year-olds, expelled from high school at age 15, hail from Atlanta. They earned a living by working in a diner before going on their second tour, at age 17, a tour that has continued to this day. "It's not that hard," bass player Jared Swilly told Rolling Stone. "Hard for me is having to work nine to five at the diner."
The Lips have played in hundreds of bars and small clubs, and in more than one case, they were thrown out because of their wild behavior on stage. They released three albums for a small record label, until they caught the attention of the more established Vice Records company that represents Bloc Party and The Streets. In March, Black Lips released their debut album for Vice: "Black Lips: Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo," which includes live performances in Tijuana, Mexico.
Black Lips will apparently not become a runaway commercial success - its music is too raunchy and chaotic. Unless the band surrenders its artistic integrity, its natural venue will continue to be small clubs in which there is no separation from the crowd. In a somewhat jocular attempt to depict the band's sound, Rolling Stone features the following graphic equation: "The Ronettes - Girls + Distortion." That is not a bad description of the pop simplicity of their songs and the drunk, disorderly and raucous nature of their presentation.
Band members use the term "Flower Punk" to describe their music. "We're too punk to be hippie and too hippie to be punk," Swilley explains. Black Lips' sound draws inspiration from mid-1960s garage rock and old rockabilly records, and listeners may detect a prominent nod to Southern rock in their songs. The band recently released its "Oh Katrina" single. All proceeds from the song will go to Hurricane Katrina victims.
Until recently, Black Lips was known for its unruly on-stage behavior: Band members were in the habit of pulling their penises out to piss into one another's mouths and spray their audiences. The band is not expected to provide entertainment of this ilk in its local performance, unless there is a surprise. "We stopped doing that," Swilley told Rolling Stone. "We did it in the beginning to make up for a lack of musicianship and because we were playing tiny bars for 20 people so it was more just like a drunk party. We don't want to be circus performers because the songs are better than that."
Black Lips' first concert in Israel will take place on Friday at Levontine 7 in Tel Aviv. (Israeli bands Monkey Son of a Donkey and Satan UFO will open.) On June 14, the band will appear at The Lab in Jerusalem (Melakhekhai Hapinka" and the Yehudonim will open). On June 16, the band will once again appear at Levontine 7. (Schwartze Kinder, Yehudonim and Monkey Son of a Donkey will open.)