Atlanta punks Black Lips give Orlando live preview of their amazing new country album on eve of its release

THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND
Black Lips and the Wildtones at the Social, Jan. 23

Ever since their notorious early years of high mischief in the 2000s, the world has become conditioned to expect splashy offstage headlines from Atlanta punk troublemakers the Black Lips. But the latest major shake-up in their brash and storied career is their actual music.
Over the past several years, the band has undergone a significant roster overhaul that now represents a majority infusion of fresh blood into their ranks. And as of yesterday, they now have a brand-new country album (Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart) out that fully consummates that revamp.
The work is as dramatic of a reboot as they’ve ever done, and they rolled back into town mere hours before the official release of this anticipated opus. I have not been this excited to see the Black Lips in nearly a decade.
Although still framed in their undying and flamboyant sense of humor, this record is remarkably all-in on the twang. On it, they go from sounding like a drunker, punker Whiskeytown on out to cartoonish Southern-fried camp. And if you were smart enough to make their Orlando show, you would’ve been treated to a live – and lively – preview of more than half of this fun, swashbuckling album.
One hell of a romp, this novel look is an avatar of the new chemistry that’s powering a motley crew at peak color and creativity. More than anything else, though, it’s a fresh and, frankly, needed reset for a new dawn.
And adding some homegrown heat and spice to the night were Orlando retro rock & roll slingers the Wildtones.
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