Black Crowes-Oasis bill feels natural to bandmates.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

The Black Crowes and Oasis _ strange pairing?

Not as far as Rich Robinson is concerned.

The Crowes guitarist said there's a basic theme to the band's co-headlining tour this summer, which bills his band's gritty, Southern-fried rock next to the melodic power-pop sounds of Oasis.

"I don't think it's an odd combination at all," he says. "We're just two rock bands _ two guitars, bass and drums. We both love music, we love the same records, and we approach it similarly. When you come see the two bands, it makes sense. I haven't seen anybody leaving saying, `That sucked.'"

For Robinson and his bandmates _ including brother Chris Robinson on vocals and former Cry of Love member Audley Freed on guitar _ it's just another misconception in a string of many since the Crowes broke big in the early `90s.

"I remember it used to be that we were a blatant Stones rip-off. We couldn't get away from that," he says. "It's funny _ we play with Jimmy (Page) one summer and now everything is `Zeppelin-based.'"

He hopes the band's latest effort, "Lions," can wipe away some of the disinformation. Produced by Don Was, the album finds the Atlanta band traversing a wide swath of styles in what is perhaps its most distinctive ...