SEASON OF THE PEACH
A CONVERSATION WITH JARED SWILLEY OF BLACK LIPS
Garage punk rockers Black Lips have been hammering out loud, fuzzy, aggressively chaotic songs ever since their debut record, Black Lips! They were also part of the garage rock revival scene that heavily dominated the 2000s rock era. The band, which consists of Cole Alexander, Jared Swilley, Oakley Munson, Zumi Rosow, and Jeff Clarke, returns with the record, Season Of The Peach, their first album since 2022’s Apocalypse Love.
“Other people may notice, but I think that any changes have been so incremental and gradual that it’s hardly noticeable for us,” says Swilley. “That being said, I don’t think we’ve ever had any radical changes. It’s been a slow evolution, maybe some devolution even.”
Creating Season Of The Peach was a very enjoyable and fun time for Swilley. “My favourite moments of the album were the experiences while making it,” he reflects. “Like being in the mountains and jumping in the river every day, that’s the part I remember most.”
Season Of The Peach sees Black Lips committing their music to analogue tape, something which the band thought was an important thing to do. “We went back to the tape because tape limits what you can do, and it makes you do everything all in one go,” says Swilley. “It was kind of a way of going back to doing the way we used to do things. All of our early recordings were on tape, and I used to swear by it. Digital has its advantages, and at this point, it’s hard to tell the differences sonically, but I think it changes the feel and approach. It’s more honest.”
Interestingly, Season Of The Peach opens with “The Illusion Part Two” and closes with “The Illusion Part One”. “We just couldn’t decide what version to use, so we decided to go with both,” comments Swilley. “It feels more like an album that is meant to be listened to all the way through. I like when records have an intro and an outro.”
PURCHASE SEASON OF THE PEACH VIA BANDCAMP
One of the standout tracks from the record is the rocking “Sx Sx Sx Men”. “I just came up with the riff, initially to make a rockabilly style song, and I made a demo of it,” reflects Swilley. “When we got together in the studio and started playing it together, it just started mutating into that. I didn’t have a good idea for lyrics, so I asked Cole if he could try rapping over it.”
Another standout track is “Zulu Saints”, which I mentioned to Swilley felt like a folksy medieval dance tune. “Oh, that’s a funny description, I like it,” he comments. “That was a Cole and Zumi number. They were trying to conjure up images of apocalyptic American truck stops. It’s a fun one to play.”
There are plenty of great and memorable guitar riffs on this record. In “So Far Gone”, Black Lips utilize a dirty tone and turn the fuzz all the way up, unleashing a rocking good time. On the other hand, the guitar riff of “Kassandra” is very clean and melodic. “I like utilizing the fuzzy guitar tone for single note guitar parts,” shares Swilley. “It just cuts through and can make something so simple sound so good. Black Lips have been chasing the perfect fuzz tone for 25 years. I like the juxtaposition of the clean jangle with chords and the single note fuzz. We’ve never been big on distortion.”
One of Black Lips’ most well-known songs, “O Katrina!” appeared in the film Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Since its release, the film has become a cult classic, with many people discovering Black Lips through the movie. “I wasn’t even totally aware of it when it came out,” comments Swilley. “We pretty much say yes to any movie that wants to use a song. As the years have gone by, I’ve noticed it’s become something of a cult classic. That’s pretty cool because I feel like people revisit films so much, and later generations discover it later, and there’s your song. I know I’ve found out many songs this way. I think it’s introduced us to a bunch of people.”
Season Of The Peach is set to drop on September 19. “To me it means summertime and that’s my favourite time of the year,” shares Swilley. “You can’t really get peaches year-round. It’s the end of summer here in Georgia, and the peaches are already out of season. You gotta get them while you can.”
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Photo Credits: Cate Groubert
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