Photos: Black Lips' Middle East Summer Vacation Part 1

Having already braved Tijuana on this year's Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo, intrepid lo-fi garage-punk warriors Black Lips decided to take their new world magic to another popular holiday getaway spot: the Middle East. Nope, not the Cambridge venue (though they've been there too), but the honest-to-goodness, cradle of civilization/axis of evil/Holy Land Middle East, a place where no mustache is ironic.

Lucky for the rest of us, they brought along a Polaroid camera and some caption-writing wittery. And so today we present the first of two photo installments detailing a lick of the Lips' faraway travails in Israel and Palestine. Marvel as they enter a shorts-free zone, cavort with local children, and endure a stay at an "all male brothel." Not quite Xiu Xiu-ridiculous, but still a treat.

Also: scope some hot vacation video footage here and some tour dates (including a return to the MA Middle East) below. Stay tuned for more photos later this week.

Good Bad Not Evil, the Lips' second 2007 full-length, drops September 11 on Vice.



Left: "In Palestine, no one can hear you scream"

Right: "Cold rockin that shit, Palestine."



Left: "Jesus wore khakis. I can prove it. Test me."

Right: "Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Alexander."



Left: "My hair looks like shit in this photo. It looks like someone shoved my penis in an electrical socket."

Right: "We stayed in this all male brothel and these dudes were straight chillin in the beds."

Vacation destinations:

08-30 Manchester, England - The Roadhouse
08-31 Nottingham, England - The Social
09-01 Leeds, England - The Faversham
09-02 Glasgow, Scotland - Optimo
09-03 York, England - Fibbers
09-04 London, England - White Heat
09-05 London, England - Rough Trade, Brick Lane (single launch party)
09-06 Oxford, England - The Cellars
09-07 Brighton, England - The Engine Room
09-12 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club *
09-13 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
09-14 Baltimore, MD - Sonar *
09-15 Washington, DC - Black Cat *
09-16 Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore at Theatre of Living Arts *
09-18 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom *
09-19 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
09-20 Worcester, MA - The Grind (Clark University) *
09-21 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs *
09-22 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa *
09-23 Toronto, Ontario - The Horseshoe Tavern *
09-25 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick *
09-26 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom *
09-27 Covington, KY - The Mad Hatter
09-28 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium *
09-29 Milwaukee, WI - Mad Planet *
09-30 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock *
10-02 Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room *
10-03 Kansas City, MO - Grand Emporium *
10-04 Dallas, TX - The Loft *
10-05 Austin, TX - Emo's *
10-06 Houston, TX - The Engine Room *
10-07 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks *
10-11 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
10-12 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
10-13 Portland, OR - Dante's
10-15 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
10-17 Pomona, CA - Glass House
10-18 San Diego, CA - Casbah
10-19 West Hollywood, CA - Troudabor
10-20 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
11-02 London, England - Forum (Release the Bats ATP)

* with the Selmanaires