Garage Rockathon

Garage rock fans have something to celebrate. Fans of the genre all seem to love the Peach State group The Black Lips and the Germany-based Canadian duo King Khan & BBQ Show, but now revivalist rock lovers will get the best of both worlds. The Almighty Defenders, a new group that pairs BBQ (born Mark Sultan) with the Lips, is set to release its Vice Records debut on Sept. 22. The recently announced group dates its roots to last winter after the Black Lips fled India for fear that they'd be imprisoned for "homosexual acts" onstage. The group's wild live performances often include band member lip-locks — in addition to nudity, bodily discharges, fires and even barnyard animals — but these inter-band exchanges didn't go over so well in Chennai. After getting chased out of the country, the Lips made their way to Berlin and spent the winter with their friends King Khan and BBQ. With the cold temperatures keeping them in at night, the musicians found themselves writing gospel-inspired rock anthems.After completing an album's worth of new music, the Lips and BBQ entered Moon Studios and recorded a full-length album last January. The soulful rock tunes turned out so good that they decided to form an actual band, The Almighty Defenders, to release the 12-song album.While the group has yet to post songs to its MySpace page, they did perform their first show last week, and lots more is sure to come. Their fans will demand it!