Black Lips single pulled by label over “allegations” against a band member

Italian label Wild Honey pulled a Black Lips 7-inch single, which was scheduled for release last month, due to “certain allegations” against a member of the band.

The single – featuring a cover of Fred Cole’s ‘Colt 44′ and Hank Williams’ ‘Alone and Forsaken’ – was set to arrive on October 22 ahead of a European tour by the band, but it was never released.

In a statement to Pitchfork, Wild Honey said that shortly after announcing the 7-inch, it was alerted to “certain allegations” that “had been made against a member of the band”.

“Out of respect to all involved, our staff, colleagues and the artists signed to our label, we decided to pull the release,” the label continued.

“It is not a decision we took lightly, but we believe it’s the right thing to do under the circumstances… We condemn any form of abusive behaviour and any form of discrimination.”

Wild Honey did not name the Black Lips member it was referring to nor the nature of the allegations. However, according to Pitchfork, the artist Doug Tuttle, who released a song on Wild Honey earlier this year, criticised the label last month on social media for planning on releasing Black Lips’ music, and requested his single be pulled from the label.

He reportedly referenced a Los Angeles Times article from January about the alleged culture of sexual misconduct related to California garage rock label Burger Records, which reissued several Black Lips albums on cassette.

• READ MORE: The sexism scandal at Burger Records proves that indie music culture needs to be detoxified

In the LA Times article, a woman named Emily Langland claimed that Black Lips guitarist Cole Alexander sent her “sexually inappropriate” texts when she was 17 and Alexander was 29, and had a sexual relationship when she was 18 and he was 30.

Alexander declined to comment to the Times, but issued a statement to Pitchfork about Wild Honey’s comments, saying “the allegations are simply not true and we have no other comment”.

Pitchfork also reported that Black Lips are no longer signed to their longtime home of Vice Records after releasing multiple albums through the label between 2007 and 2020. The band are still reportedly signed to Fire Records.

The post Black Lips single pulled by label over “allegations” against a band member appeared first on NME.

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