Live music review: Atlanta garage punks Black Lips rocked Parish with Gus Baldwin and Death Party
Atlanta’s Black Lips have kept this dream alive since the label’s dissolution. Since embarking on numerous tours and album cycles since 1999, the garage outfit has been a musical binge …
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The Cosmic Clash
After seeing Wavves in Denton, Texas, the course of my musical journey would be changed forever. When I asked about bands that the other attendees listened to, a fellow concertgoer pulled out his wallet and gave me a sticker that read “BURGER RECORDS.” I returned to my hotel, googled the label, and discovered many of the artists I consider some of my favorites to this day. These artists included Ty Segall, King Tuff, Osees, and JEFF the Brotherhood. I wanted to collect as many albums from these artists as I could. Since then, visits to record stores have been frequent in search of vinyl. Atlanta’s Black Lips have kept this dream alive since the label’s dissolution. Since embarking on numerous tours and album cycles since 1999, the garage outfit has been on a musical binge since their inception. With a stage show that goes the lo-fi, rocking distance, there was never a dull moment on Friday night at Austin’s Parish in the city’s East Side.

To open the show, Austin hardcore punks Death Party took the stage for a power-trio, thrasher party. Inspired by the frantic stage shows by the likes of Jay Reatard, The Spits, and legends, Buzzcocks, Death Party kicked off the night with some stripped-down tunes that warmed up the garage rock festivities seamlessly. The trio appeared onstage wielding two flying-V guitars, showing a uniform presentation of rock n roll that showed the band slashing through tune after tune without letting up. Aside from some greetings and a band name introduction, the set felt like a song-to-song, sonic avalanche. Death Party also recently released new track, “Son of Sam,” accompanied by a music video earlier this year that chronicles the no-holds-barred punk ferocity of the Austin group.

Gus Baldwin & The Sketch took the middle slot Friday night and such is tradition, kicked ass to bombastic levels. Frontman and guitarist Gus Baldwin has had an incredible year. Since being installed as tour guitar tech for local psych-rock saviors, The Black Angels, Baldwin has been a staple of Austin’s music scene. To kick off their set, The Sketch introduced an individual dressed in an Elmo costume, whom the band referred to as “Gelmo.” Gelmo sang a sonically warped version of The National Anthem (Yes, really) before stage diving into the crowd and instigating the evening’s mosh pit.

The Austin psych-punk act tore through their set, including some new tunes promised by the band in an Instagram post to promote the show. Since releasing their debut record last year, Baldwin and his band hasn’t stopped for anything, releasing numerous 7′ records and cassette tapes while playing gigs that showcase the many iterations of the ATX musicians’ talent.

Black Lips have been around since 1999, with singer and guitarist Cole Alexander and bassist Jared Swilley clocking in as remaining original members of the group. When Black Lips took the stage, it was an instant eclectic sight of rock n’ roll. The Georgia rockers came dressed for the occasion, with each member wearing a very different getup that might have placed them in various bands altogether. We had to hand it to them, considerable thought had to have gone into their live presentation.

After a short audience greeting, Black Lips launched into 90 minutes of garage, indie-rock perfection. The Atlanta quintet showcased fuzzy guitars, thrilling saxophone instrumentation from third longest-standing member, Zumi Rosow, and fuzzy garage pop hooks that easily tied the 19-song set together. Black Lips powered through their stage time, leaving little room for talk as they shouted a song title and hacked through each cut accordingly. We’ve been told that the Atlanta rock act has been known for its provocative stage antics, including vomiting, urination, nudity, electric R.C. car races, fireworks, a live chicken, flaming guitars, and more we can’t talk about here. Based on Friday’s no BS approach of less talk and more rock, the bombastic pyrotechnics have been put mostly behind them. Damnit! This didn’t stop the Austin audience from popping off when the band launched into “Bad Kids,” propelling a massive singalong that provoked more moshing and crowd surfing galore.

Throughout the set, it was apparent that the Parish audience had many song and album favorites. Since Black Lips are 10-some odd records deep at this point in their trajectory, there’s a lot to cherry-pick when it comes time for the band to choose set lists, as the crowd appeared to have a wide age range of fans that likely discovered Black Lips in a multitude of ways at various points in the Lips’ creative history. Whether organically through labels like Burger Records or random Bandcamp browsing, raw, indie-rock discovery is still alive and well.

Black Lips continues to tour this Fall before wrapping things up with a New Year’s run of dates in California in December.

All photos by Drew Doggett