Surprising behavior is no longer surprising to Flaming Lips fans. Strange performances, eyebrow-raising costumes and unprecedented instrumental creations haven't waned over the band's 20-year lifespan, with its founding members now well into middle age. The band's slogan should be nothing less direct than "Expect the Unexpected."
"At War with the Mystics," the new album from these whacked-out rock veterans, was released last week. For four years since their last album, "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots," fans have waited with anticipation through internet leaks and record label delays. The new album reflects changes both in individual band members and in the world -- which, although flabbergastingly weird, also manages to be damn entertaining.
The album's first single, "W.A.N.D." is a hyper-fun mess of indie beats. Looking to hook listeners, the Flaming Lips drive "W.A.N.D." into fan-pleasing territory -- it's a great time, but it's also sort of safe compared to their other fare. Predictably, other songs stray into stranger territory: "It Overtakes Me" is an utter blast of unapologetic funk followed by three minutes of hazy organ music and guitar plucking. To the ear, it doesn't make much sense, yet it's somewhat mesmerizing.
Immediately following such aural confusion is the uber-personal "Mr. Ambulance Driver," which reportedly chronicles the death of one band member's mother. The lyrics are smooth, calm and ultimately poignant: "I'm right here beside her / And though I'll live somehow I've found / Mr. Ambulance Driver / I'm not a real survivor."
Many of the in-between songs are bustling conglomerations of freak-pop and indie rock, and while it's different and intriguing, the constant craziness is sometimes overwhelming. By the end, the seemingly boring "Goin' On" seems like a welcome denouement to an otherwise thunderous trip. The song's simplicity seems somewhat out of place, but it's a nice release to conclude a marathon of hyper orchestrated insanity.
For many of these bombastic little bursts of life, it's important to note the underlying theme behind the lyrics: Bush is bad. Sometimes subtly, sometimes blatantly, the Flaming Lips are on a mission, and it's in the opposite direction of Iraq. In "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song," Coyle croons, "If you could blow up the world with a flick of a switch, would you do it?" And in "W.A.N.D.," he blurts, "They've got their weapons / To solve all their questions." Another interesting fact: in concert, the Lips have been known to cover Black Sabbath's "War Pigs."
Basically, "At War with the Mystics" is to music as "Syriana" was to movies. The political sway is obvious and self-assured in its full-forward charge, sure to rally cheering from its supporters and eye rolling from its dissenters. Even if such leftist-minded jabbing doesn't hit home, however, the album is still entertaining, artistically commendable and fun -- All that pop-electronic orchestrated madness makes for a grand listening experience, with or without the political overtones.
The band took a long artistic journey to get to such a focused, precise destination. In the early 1980s, the Flaming Lips supported the hard metal movement. Between going through an uncountable slew of drummers and taking an "absurdity is good!" attitude with the press, the Flaming Lips' early life seemed uncomfortably similar to Spinal Tap. But since then, they've developed into a focused group of serious musicians who maintain an impressive lack of pretension -- even recently, amid critics' praise and a hard-core following of fans. They've chiseled a nook of their own into the indie rock scene, and they've become clearly driven by motives that extend beyond sex and drugs, whether that includes simple aural spontaneity or political preaching.
Indeed, the Flaming Lips inhabit an utterly unconventional, if not slightly absurd, place in the world of modern rock. But then again, that should be expected.
