Crib Notes

Ever since that whole debacle went down with the Black Lips having to flee India to avoid going to jail, I’ve been getting daily phone calls from the Mighty Hannibal asking me if I know anything about the Black Lips and King Khan teaming up to cover one of his songs for a new record they recorded while exiled in Berlin. The answer has been a categorical no until yesterday when Vice announced that it will be releasing the self-titled debut LP by the Almighty Defenders, a new collaboration between the Black Lips, Khan and his longtime cohort BBQ, or as his friends call him Mark Sultan. It’s important to note that no track list has been revealed yet, but Hannibal assures me that they’ve covered what he calls a “bad ass damn version” of his song “I’m Coming Home.”

“They really did it up right and it teaches me something about my own song,” Hannibal says.

The album, according to Vice, is “brimming with soul, earnest shouts, cries and hand-claps over post-modern gospel-rock anthems.” The whole thing was recorded at Khan’s Moon Studios and will be released on LP and digitally via Vice Records on Tues., Sept. 22.

Almighty Defenders @ Amsterdam Brewery from NOW Magazine on Vimeo.

(Photo by David Waldman)

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From Vice:

The Black Lips recent expedition to India was marked by a series of fairly seismic culture shocks. Everything from bottle-throwing fans at a gig in Pune, to livid show promoters in Chennai who chased them out of the country, all in response to a bunch of full-frontal punk rock provocateurs from Atlanta.

See the video.

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Earlier today Crib Notes reported that the Black Lips had to flee India to avoid going to jail over allegations of indecent exposure on the television show, “Campus Rock Idol.”

Vice magazine caught up with drummer Joe Bradley to get his account of what happened.

What happened in Chennai? Who got “indecent”?
Well, we hadn’t had a chance to get even the slightest bit drunk the entire time we were in India, so Jared bought a bunch of whisky before the show. The venue was some weird, shitty auditorium at a college. Things were uncomfortable to begin with; no eating inside, no smoking outside or anywhere really. The show was sponsered by Nokia, Honda, and VH1 and they had these crappy production projections on advert screens on either side of the stage. The college had these wireless mics though, so Jared got jazzed up on whisky and started pumping up the crowd by cursing at them, getting them to repeat things like “When I say ‘weak-ass’, you say ‘bitch’! Weak ass?” “BITCH!” “Weak ass?” “BITCH!” The crowd was eating it up but I think we only ended up playing like, seven songs. Eventually things got really energetic and Cole mooned the crowd then proceeded to kiss Ian while Jared continued ramping up the crowd, which eventually led to him taking a running dive into the audience. Really, our tour manager was the only one freaking out. No one tried to put a stop to the show. We even told the crowd “Remember! there’s only 4 of them (security) and 150 of you.”

Read the rest of the post on Vice.

(Photo by Nick Gazin)

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According to a post on the Black Lips’ blog the group had it’s current tour of India canceled and had to flee the country to avoid going to jail over a matter of indecent exposure on “Campus Rock Idol,” which is pretty much India’s version of “American Idol.”

“When we got to the hotel our tour guide informed us that the that the Campus Rock Idols sponsors were pressing charges and that the police would make their arrest. At that point our tour driver informed us we would have to drive six hours to get to the next town and cross state lines where we would be out of the Tamil authorities’ jurisdiction, because apparently the jail in Chennai is no joke. Word on the street said that it was teeming with tuberculosis, violence and live maggots so instead of risking going there we fled the scene. The drive ended up taking 10 hours because of a horrific accident on the road. We were also informed that all of the shows on our tour had been canceled effectively fucking all funds for the trip. This was a cultural clashing shit storm.”

The post on the group’s blog also explains that the group fled to Berlin where it is holed up with their Indian ally King Khan, working on a new EP.

If only “American Idol” could be this exciting… The Black Lips’ album 200 Million Thousand hits the streets via Vice Records on Feb. 24th. No word yet on the above mentioned EP.

(Photo by Dan Arnold)

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