Black Lips Use Human Skull in Recording New Album

Black Lips make no secret of their reverence for a bygone era. Throughout their history the Atlanta rockers have remained vehemently attached to an aesthetic that mixes druggie psychedelia with Nuggets-era garage rock, virtually ignoring contemporary trends.

But on their upcoming sixth LP, the band is finally ready to get with the times.

"We're shooting for something that's innovative in a technological way," guitarist Cole Alexander tells Spinner. "It'll still sound like a Black Lips record, but it's going to have some futuristic concepts to it. I can't really say too much without giving it away, but it'll be kind of interactive. We're exploring more on a conceptual level."
That's not to say the innovation won't have retro elements to it; one of the album's most remarkable devices is more than a century old -- an antique human skull bought on the black market in New York City.

"Yeah, we've got a skull," Alexander admits. "We got the idea from (seminal 60's psych-rockers) the 13th Floor Elevators. On some of their songs like 'You're Going to Miss Me,' they actually use a jug as a reverberation chamber. So we're trying to get that same sort of effect, but with a skull it's actually the sound of being inside a human head."

"Not to mention the demons that can be called upon, the spirits that can be summoned from using such an instrument," bassist Jared Swilley adds.

Many websites have already tipped the as-yet-untitled album for a summer release, but the band gave Spinner a more realistic date of January 2011.

"We're just taking the time to make it as awesome as possible," says Swilley.

Parts of the album have already been recorded at Deerhunter's practice space in Atlanta, but the band plans to finish the album at the same studio used to record their breakout 2005 album, 'Let It Bloom.' The delayed release gives the band more time to spend on the final sessions, but it means the album will miss an important Black Lips milestone: their tenth anniversary.

"It's weird to think about because we're all still pretty young," Swilley says. "It makes me feel old, but I'm not. We just started early."

"We've been together for a decade man," Alexander marvels. "How many indie bands can say that?"