Black Lips – "Gentleman"
Garage-rock miscreants Black Lips returned last month with “Odelia,” which appeared to be the lead single from a new album. It was! Today the band has announced the title that album: Sing In A World That’s Falling Apart, as in, The Black Lips Sing In A World That’s Falling Apart. They recorded it in Laurel Canyon at the newly reopened Valentine Recording Studios and are name-dropping such foundational influences as the Byrds, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and the Velvet Underground.
Our next taste the album has also arrived. It’s a bleary country-psych power ballad that alludes to Black Lips’ notorious wild behavior while suggesting they’ve grown past all that craziness. “This old middle finger has grown tired and fat from flicking the bird,” Cole Alexander begins. Later, after invoking Snuffleupagus, he sings, “I found out the hard way that the path to her heart is not through her nose.” There’s also a huge shout-along gang chorus that really hits the spot, leading to a grand finale in which Alexander realizes, “She wants a gentleman.” It’s the best Black Lips song I’ve heard in a minute.
Listen below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Hooker Jon”
02 “Chainsaw”
03 “Rumbler”
04 “Holding Me Holding You”
05 “Gentleman”
06 “Get It On Time”
07 “Angola Rodeo”
08 “Georgia”
09 “Odelia”
10 “Dishonest Men”
11 “Locust”
12 “Live Fast Die Slow”
Sing In A World That’s Falling Apart is out 1/24 on Fire Records/VICE. Pre-order it here.
