STACK January 2017 Issue 147

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They remain funny, challenging, different and full of the unexpected.
On the eve of the release of their latest album Oczy Mlody, Graham
Reid considers the cornerstones of The Flaming Lips. Words Graham Reid
Transmissions From The
Satellite Heart (1993)
The sort-of hit single She Don't Use
Jelly could have had them pinned
as a gimmick band, but this album
was full of different delights which
covered everything from dense rock
noise to tripped-out soundscapes.
Jelly opened the door but the rest
of this opened heads.
The Soft Bulletin (1999)
After their four-CD project Zaireeka
– all discs to be played either
simultaneously or out of synch –
this almost seemed very straight-
ahead. In actuality it is quite a
bent, psychedelic rock album full
of textures, concise ideas and an
almost symphonic ambition. It was
immediately acclaimed as among
the best of the year, if not the
decade that was drawing to a close;
it had heart and soul but also hit the
head. If they grab you with this then
find the expanded Soft Bulletin 5.1
edition which came out in 2002.
At War With The Mystics
(2006)
This long awaited and much
anticipated follow-up to Yoshimi
confirmed Coyne's particular
genius in songs that alluded to
global politics, but also kept the
tripped-out component high as
they bounced between the almost
comedic to ethereal and space-
bound rock. Not as easy as Yoshimi,
but one for those ready for a
challenge.
Embryonic (2009)
For some there was the sense
that Coyne was losing the plot
a little with expansive albums,
digressions with famous friends,
his long-gestating film project
Christmas On Mars and so on.
But this one – emotional with
ruminations on the Big Issues like
the powerlessness of humankind
(among other themes) – managed
to marry the ideas with great songs
and sonic landscapes, as well as a
little necessary humour. If some of
his music since has been a little off-
target, you'd never count out The
Flaming Lips.
And also...
The very early Lips stuff is gathered
on the three-CD collection Finally
The Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid,
released in late 2002 – well worth
seeking out to hear where they
came from. If you like that, check
out The Day They Shot A Hole
In The Jesus Egg, a double-CD
collection also from 2002, released
to take advantage of the band’s
high profile after Yoshimi. They were
different back then. But then again,
they've always been different.
I t was the costumes and huge balloons really, wasn't it? The Flaming Lips – the vehicle of frontman
Wayne Coyne – proved that even at the height of post-grunge seriousness in the ‘90s, you were
allowed to be silly and have fun. And he always looked like he was. But The Flaming Lips had already
been around a long time (they started in the early ‘80s) before their dreamy, psychedelic, 2002 effort
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots took them to a massive international audience. We'll sidestep their
earliest work (see 'And also' below) and will assume you've got Yoshimi, and we will avoid their covers
albums (With A Little Help From My Fwends , ...The Dark Side Of The Moon) but aim for four key albums
to introduce the strange and compelling world of The Flaming Lips.
Transmissions From The Satellite Heart
The Soft Bulletin
At War With The Mystics
Embryonic
• Oczy Mlody
is out January 13
via Warner.
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08 JANUARY 2017
MUSIC FEATURE