The Flaming Lips :: At War with the Mystics

Admittedly, I am a relative newcomer to the music of the Flaming Lips; I was introduced at “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” and my collection only spans as far back as “Zaireeka.” “At War with the Mystics,” however, makes a welcome addition to this collection, and is arguably the most accessible of the Flaming Lips’ recent offerings. Brimming with bleeps, squeaks, fuzzed out bass, and vocal harmonies, “AWwtM” oscillates between being ominous and quirky, profound and superficial. It is, however, this oscillation that makes “AWwtM” so very accessible. Individual songs resonate with unique individual qualities, and the album in no way feels homogeneous, untextured, or dull. While many songs could easily stand alone as singles, their contributions to the album form a picture that is both colorful and complete.

Highlights include; “Free Radicals,” which conjures images of Wayne Coyne wrestling with a Gibson SG double neck guitar, “The W.A.N.D.,” with its fuzzed out bass and “we got the power now, mother******, that’s where it belongs,” “Pompeii am Götterdämmerung,” a bass driven galloping melody about a young couple about to leap into a volcano, and “Mr. Ambulance Driver,” a song about how our lives are “strangely our own.” Downsides are few, but include; uninspired lyrics in “Haven’t got a Clue” and a well recorded but unimaginative cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” (To be fair, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is not a part of the album, but is packaged as bonus material.)

“At War with the Mystics” serves both as a fantastic addition to the Flaming Lips’ catalogue, and as an accesible introduction for those new to the music of the Flaming Lips. The music is as vibrant and colorful as the artwork, and is at times both profound and quirky. For lack of a better rating system, I give “At War with the Mystics” 8 / 10 Shanghai dumplings, and recommend it to anybody interested in, or interested in becoming interested in, the Flaming Lips. “The stars are so big. I am so small. Do I stand a chance?”

More to come soon.