BLACK LIPS, THE 'Apocalypse Love'

THE BLACK LIPS return with their 10th studio effort 'Apocalypse Love', scorched with their trademark menace, it cryogenically mutates all recognised musical bases; it spins yarns about vintage Soviet synths, Benzedrine stupors, coup de’ tats, stolen valor and certified destruction, all set against a black setting sun. Since the turn of the decade the band have transformed from austere country pioneers, into a set of Lynchian surrealists, hellbent on recalibrating the history of rock ‘n’ roll. Singer and saxophonist Zumi Rosow muses, “It’s a weird dance record, one that reflects the moment that the world’s in right now...” 'Apocalypse Love' is an album that emanates from a dive bar jukebox in the back of your mind; with a playlist that bends between tub-thumping doom-glam, Plastic Ono singalongs, cocktail-shaken space age pop, Morricone reverberations and lo-fi outsider acoustic-punk, with mariachi horns, theremins, drum machines and harmonies filtering through the infectious melodies. Stand-out number "Among The Dunes" is an amorphous platform-heeled anthem, a signature sax-fuelled stomper filled with trippy swagger. While opener "No Rave" proffers a hypnotic locked groove, with Cole Alexander’s trademark snarl delivered over a sulphurous wall of distorted hedonism, a dystopian anthem for an apocalyptic manifesto. Meanwhile, the twisted exotica of "Whips Of Holly" with its silver screen façade is like the soundtrack to a classic Theda Bara vamp-fest. As the band venture into their third decade, 'Apocalypse Love' is proof that THE BLACK LIPS show no sign of slowing down...