Black Lips don't ever stop. The Atlanta foursome constantly tours, constantly revels, and constantly tears shit up. Cole Alexander, Jared Swilley, Ian Saint Pé, and Joe Bradley are hellions, traveling the world to spread their pop-punk 1960s-tinted garage-gusto to the masses. The band teeters on the up-tempo edge of grandiosity. Their show is a sweltering sing-along. Caught up in the songs, people jump onstage and go-go dance, and Black Lips welcome it. Their act is blasphemous, decadent, and loose. But deep down, we need it that way. We need Black Lips to break shit. We need them to destroy hotel rooms and flaunt lawlessness. If the Black Lips of the world weren't here representing chaos and freedom, we'd all turn into librarians, accountants, and math teachers—and the world would implode from its own blandness. Their message: Live fast and involve alcohol. Enjoy. Someone might get nude or end up in the hospital, but it'll be hot and a shitload of fun.

Black Lips just released their sixth studio album, Arabia Mountain. Coproduced by Deerhunter's Lockett Pundt and Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lily Allen), Mountain was written and recorded over a nine-month period. Ronson cannot eat raw meat, but he can dial in tones, and the resultant songs are punk-hymn sieges. Thankfully, Black Lips are here on earth, maintaining the balance between anarchy and order, so we don't have to. Ian Saint Pé spoke from France, while driving through the countryside.

Where are you? What do you want to talk about?

It's two in the afternoon here in France. We're driving to Zurich, Switzerland. Let's have a PowerPoint presentation. All power.

All power. Where did you play last night?

We played in Paris for a fashion magazine called Joulz.

How was it?

Very solid. Nothing but tall, Clydesdale-type women. We partied. Now we're in this horseless carriage on our way to Zurich. We are on our 53rd straight day in a row. This tour started April 6, and we party every night.

Do you get enough sleep?

We do what we can. People say we look tired, and we say we always look like this. You get a little sleep here and there. Some of the guys are sleeping right now. This is a lifestyle. You know, you gotta do something. Some people work 9-to-5 to party on the weekends. We—the Black Lips—are the party.

Talk about your incredible fashion sense.

Well, for this tour I'm trying to dress like a 1950s San Quentin prison worker. You know, the chore jacket with the matching jeans. I appreciate the fashion. We like clothes. We like lifestyles. We like music. We like being in the know. We like teaching people what the know is. I think fashion and music go hand in hand. I think skateboarding and fashion and music go hand in hand.

What are you looking forward to doing in Switzerland?

It's incredibly safe-feeling in Switzerland. It's weird. You're based there in Seattle, which is in America, and there's a little bit of danger there, with the right to bear arms. Things are a bit different over in Switzerland, a little more relaxed.

Do they do drugs in Switzerland?

Last time we played there, I don't recall doing any drugs. But where there's a will, there's a way. We're usually able to score when needed. The one rule of thumb: Never carry more than you can swallow—in case you get pulled over. The border is sometimes a bitch. Nothing like Canada, though. Canada is the worst. It's a motherfucker.

Define "motherfucker."

Being detained for hours. Being searched. Basically, going back into America, it's like you've done something wrong. That Canadian/US border is nothing to joke around with. Some of us—not naming names—have criminal pasts. All the paperwork and bullshit. It's like you're a Nazi war criminal. But I look forward to getting back to the United States and playing Seattle. I love Seattle.

No one will probe you coming into Seattle.

I prefer to be the one doing the probing.

Continuing with the PowerPoint presentation here, let's talk about the human skull you guys have. What's with the skull?

Cole scored the skull in an oddity shop in New York City. We use it in a video for "Modern Art." And it's on the cover of the new album. Are you familiar with the band 13th Floor Elevators, from Austin? Their jug player uses the jug as a reverberation tank. We had the same idea with this skull, and ran some of the parts—guitars and vocals—through the cranium and made it a reverb chamber. We figured if we can make it reverberate in this skull, it'll reverberate in your skull. It's the cranium setting. Cole named the skull, but I forget what it is.

Is the skull with you now?

No, it's not with us. It's hard enough bringing drugs across the border, let alone human remains. The skull is at Cole's house right now. It does make the cover of the album, as well as us and two females.

I wish we knew the skull's name.

For the sake of this PowerPoint interview, let's call it Mark.

Mark Arm.

There we are. Sub Pop. I love Mudhoney. Seattle has had something good going for it for quite some time. You all have quite a few bands doing well right now. I'm not too into Fleet Foxes—don't say anything—but they are doing extremely well. There's a new band from Seattle we like called Night Beats. We're fans of them.

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Seattle?

The Spits.

Yes. Mr. Sean Wood. A Clydesdale in his own right.

Fuck yes—one of the best punk bands of all time. Outside of Black Flag, they are tops. Punk Clydesdales. You can quote me on that. Definitely PowerPoint.

How were the recording sessions for the new album?

There were four different sessions. We recorded like 32 songs and chose 16. From the first session, we ended up using only one song. A song called "Noc-A-Homa," which is about the Atlanta Braves mascot. We did that one at our studio. The second session was with Lockett from Deerhunter. The album has two songs from that session, "Bicentennial Man" and "Go Out and Get It." Then the third session was the studio where we did our Let It Bloom album, which is in Costa Mesa. That turned out "Family Tree," "Time," "Dumpster Dive," and "You Keep on Running." The last session was with Mark Ronson. We took him out to eat raw liver, and he almost died.

Almost died?

Yeah, he had a bad reaction to the liver. You know, things happen. To fear death is to not fully live life. You have to put everything out on the line.

And eating raw meat is to fully live life.

Yes it is. It's also part of this PowerPoint presentation. Black Lips enjoy raw meats. It's primal. It just feels good. Keeps your eyes focused. Keeps you alert. We actually have a song on the new record called "Raw Meat." Poor Mark. Sorry about that, Mark. He's a killer producer. Out of the songs, the one he worked the most on is "Mr. Driver." He offered a whole new idea for my guitar line. Then he took Cole's guitar and scratched it, like DJ scratched it. He really helped us sculpt the songs, with tones and stuff like that.

What effects do you like to run your guitar through?

Cole and I really love fuzz. We try 'em all. The Maestro Fuzz-Tone stands out above the others; it's probably my favorite. Cole likes the Foxx Tone Machine. Recently I've been going with the Univox Super-Fuzz.

And you record only to tape.

Yes. And we crank our amps. We're not into overdrive pedals. Cranked amps have a more natural sound. We don't record digitally. Only tape for us. You can quote me on that. People say, "But tape is expensive." And we go, "Yeah, we know. But it sounds better." Analog is our secret. Use vintage shit.

Braves mascot Chief Noc-A-Homa had a tepee in the left-field bleachers. I think he got fired for smoking weed in it.

Ah. Well, I'm from New Orleans, but my boys told me he got fired because he was getting drunk too much. But weed, I could see that. There was one game, I think against the Padres, where he did a rain dance, and the teams got in a massive fistfight. It's from the 1970s; you can see it online. That song is badass. You'll like it.

Is the song about the fight? Or is it about Noc-A-Homa the man?

Pretty much about Noc-A-Homa himself. And having a hard time with the Atlanta Braves, being let go.

Was he a real Indian?

Yes. My boys could probably tell you what tribe he came from. I heard there was actually more than one Noc-A-Homa.

Like Saddam Hussein and all his body doubles.

We wanted to try to find him, and get him to be in the video.

Saddam? I think they already found him.

Noc-A-Homa. I'm sure he's really old now. But we would have had Saddam in a video, too. We want to try to film some of the video in the Atlanta Braves stadium. We've been in communications with Major League Baseball. Wanna hear a joke?

Yes.

What did the fly say to the poop?

What?

"Shit, man, that shit smells like shit." You can write that down for the Stranger readers.