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The Flaming Lips are Go Manifesto

Anybody catch The Flaming Lips on CBS's Late Late Show last night, playing their single "Do You Realize?" (from their current album "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots")? How about the same song being featured in a new Hewlett-Packard TV commercial? Anybody see one of these who's never heard The Lips before? If so, what did you think?

IMO The Lips are, bar none, the finest rock band - artistically speaking - in the world right now, and the only currently-active group or artist still in their prime (and maybe just entering it their case) whose best work I would classify as being up there near the cream of the all-time greats. And it's funny to think that they came out of Oklahoma City, of all places, over fifteen years ago as a charmingly amatuerish and noisily raw poppish hardcore band with a humorous streak, and have steadily evolved (what other band or artist in the field can you name who has put out ten albums, each one a clear advancement beyond the last?) into the sublimely tuneful and powerfully lyrical art-pop group they are today, seamlessly mixing equal parts experimentalism and classicism in a sound that's uniquely original and yet timeless in its sheer creativity.

They are lauded around the globe as The Best Band In The World by the international rock press (surpassing even Radiohead I think), yet when they're not touring with Beck as they are now, I can still see them play in a reasonably-sized club gig in their own country. Maybe this will be changing now, I don't know, but if they do finally move up the rock food chain, they will have deserved it long ago (their only semi-hit came back in '93 with the hilarious "She Don't Use Jelly").

To me, it's The Flaming Lips, not Nirvana or The Smashing Pumpkins, who in the end truly represent the possibility for the ultimate triumph to be secretly carried out on behalf of America's seminal underground 'indie-rock' explosion of the 80's. Nirvana signaled the movement's artistic death at the same time that it hailed its commercial breakthrough, while The Lips - there before Nirvana, still here (and growing) after - continue as the genuine surviving spawn and blossoming link to Rock's continuum (now reduced as it is to the desicated thread of an art form whose golden age was in twilight even long prior to today's utter [and utterly disgusting] industry/market squelching or co-opting of any remaining original artisitc impulse that kids raised on MTV and video games can possibly muster) of dynamic creative expressionism that exploded for the second time in the 60's and then again (and for the last time, but mostly underground) a decade later.

Whereas Nirvana exuded the youthful (even if realistic) rage of nihilism, and the frustration of (and eventual defeat by) unavoidable compromise, The Pumpkins the fascination of mere narcissism, and bands like Pearl Jam the comforts of conventional arena-rock (oops, better make that 'alt-rock' nowadays) career-mongering, The Flaming Lips have quietly metamorphosed from their earlier ironist and obscurist leanings into an encouraging exultation of optimism and celebration of universiality not seen at this level since the early days of U2, but without the preachiness, humorlessness, or social-commentary pomposity. In fact, the bands whose unfulfilled larger-market promise I see The Lips as potentially inheriting more successfully than they could manage in their time - and with more artistic integrity than the grunge cohort - are the original casualties of indie-rock's doomed flirtation with the big-time, bands such as Sonic Youth, The Replacements, Husker Du, and Dinosaur Jr.

Can I get a witness from any members who are fans? I know that perhaps not many audiophools have this kind of taste in music (and none of The Lips' recordings are audiophilic aurally), but anybody who loves the legacy Rock at its best has given us as a truly modern art form and has a yearning for the adventurous and the expressive, could definitely do worse than to bend an ear to this most accomplished yet promising group of middle-aged bubbling-unders we have on Earth today. For the curious uninitiated, good places to start are either their present release mentioned at the top, their previous album (and breakthrough record, sound- and approach-wise) "The Soft Bulletin", or for those with a good tolerance for guitar-noise, 1995's great "Clouds Taste Metallic".
zaikesman
phild
603 posts
 
I like the Flaming Lips quite a bit and have for ten years or so. Unfortunately, Wayne Coyne's voice still grates on me after extended listening (like a bad Neil Young, if that's possible). I still find myself getting a little bored by the sameness of The Soft Bulletin, but I think they added much more variety to Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robot. I don't think I'd say that they're the "finest rock band artistically" (there are so many), but I do find them to be consistently inventive, interesting, and always improving, which says a lot these days.

I would recommend fans of sonically adventerous music like Pink Floyd (earlier Floyd?), Radiohead, Brian Eno, etc. check them out. They are looser and more "Indie" sounding than any of those people, but someone looking for something new might appreciate them quite a bit. In general, I do agree with most of what Zaikesman said. I'm obviously not as big of a fan of the band as he is, but I really respect them and think they are in peak form. They are not a band that will appeal to everyone, but most people who like them, love them.
kthomas
911 posts
 
Great post Zaikesman, and I most whole-heartedly agree. The Flaming Lips are great. I agree with Phild that I find the added variety of Yoshimi... to be preferable to The Soft Bulletin. They're not for everyone, and they're not for every mood, but they've been as creative and evolving as any band over the past 10-15 years.

I find it ironic that they're most recognized for "She Don't Use Jelly". Now they're getting recognized for their part in the recent commercial. I guess that all goes with the role of being off-beat.
musicslug
430 posts
 
An interesting 'audiophile' aside here: if you can get hold of the vinyl of 'bulletin', do so and compare it with the cd. I found a copy ($11 for a double album!) at tower and it's really quite different sounding than the cd. I don't think it's just the format either - it's almost as if it's a different mix. I've always found the cd to be somewhat distorted, bass-heavy and over-saturated. The vinyl is still somewhat bass-heavy, but overall I prefer it to the cd. btw, I'm not an anti-digital fanatic either; in fact, a lot of music these days suffers when they convert it to analog (I'm guessing it's because it was digital all down the line up to that point...).
And yes, I think they're great, especially the latest stuff. Up there with the other great truly creatives in the indie category: Radiohead, Badly Drawn Boy, Sigur Ros, and Suzanne Vega.
sean
6,231 posts
 
I've only heard a bit of the "Lips" but have liked what i have heard. Does anyone know of a good source to find their stuff on vinyl that will not cost $25 ??? From what i've heard, this is the kind of stuff that will sound MUCH better on vinyl than on CD. Sean
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zaikesman OP
3,017 posts
 
Sean, the only stuff I have is on CD, but you could check out www.flaminglips.com for more info. If you like, mail me and I can burn you a little comp disk so you can see if you'd be interested in hearing or buying more.

I find it interesting that Phild and Kthomas both think "Bulletin" is too samey-sounding compared to "Yoshimi" - I thought TSB was a bit all over the map and disjointed as an album (although the alternate remixes included don't help the flow), whereas YBTPR sounds more streamlined and of a piece to me (if slightly less distinctive). I initially found TSB incredibly exciting when I first heard it at the time it was released, but YBTPR disappointed me straight out of the box, then grew on me steadily over a couple of weeks, until it finally hit me like a ton of bricks. Both marvelously high-quality pieces of (hard) work, both indispensable.
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