Sweet Georgia Sound

Though the “Dirty South” style originated in the world of hip-hop, two of Atlanta’s best-loved underground rock bands epitomize its swagger, particularly onstage. Black Lips, a band of psychedelic garage punks, have become known for their unhinged and usually destructive live shows, full of pyrotechnics and mayhem; all manner of bodily fluids, from blood to vomit to urine flies (quite literally) at a Black Lips show. And Bradford Cox, the lanky front man for the psych-noise band Deerhunter, has shown a penchant for fake blood, flowing dresses and any number of lewd onstage antics.

“It’s this dirty, kind of like, ‘I don’t give a fuck. Yo, I’m the hottest shit.’ attitude,” says Cox, “Which is fake, and it’s really just a mask for an insecurity that ‘Hey, I’m from Atlanta and nobody’s gonna give a shit about what I’m doing. I know I’m not from New York or L.A.,’ so we’re just gonna say we’re the greatest.”

But the “Fake it ‘til you make it” approach has paid off. Through their often-astonishing live shows and impressive recordings, both bands, who share the bill at Sunday’s McCarren Pool show, have drawn attention to a locale that has not typically been seen as a breeding ground for independent rock. But over the past year and a half, Black Lips and Deerhunter have been sought out for several documentaries on the Atlanta independent music community, including an MTV spot last year, a forthcoming Atlanta installment of the Burn to Shine DVD series (which features a gathering of local bands who each play one song in a house that will later be destroyed), and a new feature-length documentary of Atlanta’s underground music scene called We Fun (produced by Bill Cody, of the 1987 documentary Athens, Ga.: Inside/Out) that is currently in production.

Though the two groups have now toured internationally and been invited to perform at massive festivals like this year’s ATP vs. Pitchfork (Black Lips chosen by Pitchfork and Deerhunter selected by ATP), they started out on a small Atlanta label called Die Slaughterhaus, which Black Lips and several friends formed in 2001.

Now in their mid-twenties, Black Lips met in their teens. Joe Bradley, who drums and sings in Black Lips, met Jared Swilley (vocals and bass) and Cole Alexander (vocals and guitar) at the first incarnation of what would come to be known as the Die Slaughterhaus house, a dilapidated eight-bedroom hangout for 40 or 50 kids near Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

“We liked to party, vandalize and listen to punk rock,” Bradley says. “It was like a community center for a bunch of kids who had nowhere else to go.”

Bands would form overnight, practice in the house, and sometimes go on to play live shows. And Black Lips were one of the bands that managed to stay together long enough to think about putting out a record, and thus the label was born.

“No one wanted to put out our first record,” Bradley explains. “So we just said, ‘We’ll put it ourselves.”

The band sent its first seven-inch to Greg Shaw at Bomp Records, and he decided to release a full-length in 2003. Bradley credits Die Slaughterhaus (both the house and the label) with helping to create a thriving local music scene that includes up-and-coming bands like the Coathangers, the Carbona and The Selmanaires.

“It’s all one big family and we feel really close to Deerhunter and all the other bands,” Bradley says. “It’s small, but it’s a big small scene… And it’s not big enough where all the genres are separated.”

Members of Black Lips and Deerhunter have known each other for years and met at a later incarnation of the Die Slaughterhaus house. And it was a 2001 Black Lips performance at an Atlanta club called MJQ that inspired Cox to form Deerhunter.

“The reason I got off my ass and started doing stuff was because I saw Black Lips and was like ‘Holy shit. They’re young and I’m young,’” Cox said. “I didn’t realize that kids our age were into that kind of stuff. I was used to bands being like Stereolab and Pavement, being 10 or 20 years older than me.”

And though both Deerhunter and Cox’s new project, Atlas Sound, have been successful enough that Cox tours much of the year, he said he never imagined Deerhunter would ever make it out of his hometown.

“We had no intention or expectation of ever even playing outside of Atlanta,” Cox says. “We had no idea that anybody would care.”

August 3, McCarren Park Pool, Lorimer St. & Bedford Ave., B’klyn, 212-639-9675; 2, Free.

------

It’s not just Atlanta bands that are making their way into New Yorkers’ hearts.  A number of Atlanta’s famous former denizens and quintessential foods can be spotted around the city. Here’s a guide to some of the finds from the jewel of the South. — Amre Klimchak

Peaches Atlanta’s favorite fuzzy fruit is in season, and some of the most delicious varieties can be found at the city’s greenmarkets through September. The Council on the Environment of New York City offers a list of greenmarket locations at its website: [www.cenyc.org/greenmarket](http://www.cenyc.org/greenmarket)

Coca-Cola The Coca-Cola empire is headquartered in Atlanta, home to the “World of Coca-Cola,” which holds the largest collection of Coke memorabilia in the world. Yawn. Unbelievably, throngs of tourists actually visit this monument to the sickly sweet carbonated beverage. But you can get your can or bottle of this ubiquitous sugary delight at almost any market in the city.

Grits Grits, ground corn cooked with water until it forms a porridgy consistency, are the “Official Prepared Food of Georgia.” Most New York restaurants that specialize in Southern food offer grits, but two Williamsburg spots are standouts in the grits department: Egg (135 N. 5th St. at Bedford Ave., 718-302-5151) and Enid’s (560 Manhattan Ave. at Driggs Ave., 718-349-3859).

David Cross Best known for his stints on Mr. Show and Arrested Development, comedian David Cross has mined his childhood in Roswell (a suburb of Atlanta) for a whole slew of jokes about growing up as an atheist Jew in the Bible Belt. He often performs stand-up comedy at the Rififi Comedy Series at Cinema Classics in the East Village. For more information about upcoming Rififi shows, visit the website: [rififinyc.com/]

Sotohiro Kosugi Though sushi is nothing new to New Yorkers, sushi chef Sotohiro Kosugi’s restaurant Soto (357 6th Ave. betw. W. 4th St & Washington Pl., 212 414-3088), which he originally opened in an Atlanta strip mall and a decade later moved to NYC, has received a warm welcome in its West Village home. Kosugi, a third-generation sushi chef, diligently prepares raw fish from around the world with the help of two assistants.