BLACK LIPS with the VIVIAN GIRLS and WHITE WIRES at the Phoenix (410 Sherbourne), Saturday (April 16), $18.50. HS, RT, SS, TM. See listing.
The Black Lips want you to know they’ve toned down their antics.
“In the past year, I’ve only seen [guitarist] Cole Alexander’s dick onstage maybe three times,” says bassist Jared Swilley over the phone from Virginia. “And we haven’t been arrested in ages.”
Not exactly standard criteria for a serious-minded rock band, but it’s all relative for the Black Lips. Throughout their storied career, the self-proclaimed Atlanta “flower punks” have attained indie rock infamy for their anything-goes live show, a dumb fun spectacle that includes everything from stage invasions to explicit sexuality. They’ve scaled it back quite a bit in the last few years, but that doesn’t stop most media from fixating on their vulgar exploits.
“I’m so used to seeing references to vomiting, nudity and fireworks in all the articles that it doesn’t really faze me any more,” says Swilley. “We like to have a good time, but that’s not all we’re about. It doesn’t really bother me, though. I think the music stands on its own.”
He has a point. They wouldn’t have survived this long if their only goal were to cause trouble. Though most of their albums follow a similar template, their knack for combining 60s psych-pop hooks with irreverent punk spirit has kept them fresh well past the 10-year mark.
And they’re more than willing to venture outside their comfort zone. For their sixth studio album, Arabia Mountain (out June 7 on Vice Records), the group worked for the first time with an outside producer, famed Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen collaborator Mark Ronson. The pop-minded Brit isn’t the most obvious person to produce the Black Lips, but according to Swilley, the choice was easy.
“He came in saying he didn’t want to fuck with our sound at all,” says Swilley. “He’s really good at working with tones and instrumentation. We recorded everything on really old gear, so it has the warm, rich 60s sound we like. And he’s really into that same era of music, so that was a big selling point for us.”
Though he’s better known for working with more polished musicians, Ronson hasn’t sanded down the Lips’ youthful experimental edge. The song Raw Meat, for instance, uses cuts of steak for percussion, while other tracks deploy a black-market human skull as an echo chamber.
He has, though, connected them to a world of music with which they otherwise have little contact.
“We got a call from Ke$ha the other day,” claims Swilley. “Mark Ronson told her about a track on the record that uses a sample of one of her songs played backwards. She actually downloaded it and said she liked it.”
The sleazy pop star may have been among the first to hear the new material, but Toronto fans should get their chance soon. They’re still easing the songs into their set, but the band’s affinity for T.O. should convince them to give a sneak peek at the Phoenix.
It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve given Toronto fans a treat. The last time they were here, they made a surprise appearance at Rancho Relaxo to perform a song with their garage rock pals the Strange Boys.
“There’s something fun going on every time we’re in town, so there’s always a chance of something unexpected happening,” says Swilley. “Montreal used to be my favourite Canadian city, but now I think it’s Toronto.”
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