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Fans of The Flaming Lips, the self-proclaimed fearless freaks from Oklahoma, are a patient lot. After the epic brilliance of “The Soft Bulletin” in 1999 followed by the futuristic pop perfection of 2002’s “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots,” it was clear that the manic creativity hinted at in their eight prior albums was finally solidifying into concrete form.
But since 2002 fans have had to wait with bated breath and only dinner scraps to tide them over — an oddball cinematic experiment in 2008’s “Christmas on Mars” with its accompanying soundtrack and the act’s legendary live show. Of course, there was the 2006 LP, “At War With The Mystics,” which certainly had its moments, but few fans would rank it in the same league as the two prior career peaks.
Lips fans everywhere finally took heart over the summer when the band announced it had been holding marathon psychedelic jam sessions in their garage while working on a double album titled “Embryonic.” This news was followed by an album cover so grotesquely bizarre that the suspicion the group had once again tapped the immense well of creative energy highlighted by “The Soft Bulletin” and “Yoshimi” was undeniable.
So, the question everyone is asking: Does the final product live up to those sky-high expectations?
On first listen it becomes immediately apparent it is necessary to abandon any preconceived notions one might have for an album by The Flaming Lips. As odd as the band has been in the past — in terms of lyrics and imagery — their music has always been accessible on some level with gorgeous vocal melodies and polished instrumental harmonies at the forefront.
This is no longer the case. Singer Wayne Coyne’s vocals are shoved out of center-stage and into the periphery. The real story is the rhythm section: Drums boom like Bonham and pulse like a Krautrock jam. The bass, sometimes multitracked, maintains consistently dark, funky vamps throughout much of the album. The guitars sometimes squall and are sometimes fuzzed-out. Reverb-heavy stabs that sync up with the bass grooves. Rhythms like Can and the guitar squall of Deerhunter are much more helpful references points than anything the Lips have put out in the past.
Coyne’s vocals and the synthesizers serve mostly to enhance the hypnotic, psychedelic grooves at the core of most of the songs. The songs “Evil,” “If,” “I Can Be a Frog” and “Sagittarius Silver Announcement” represent the few exceptions to the album’s overall vibe. All of the tunes are more melodic and less rhythmic with “Evil” and “If” being rather more sparse in their instrumentation. None possess the pop immediacy of most of the Lips’ prior work — yet this does not serve to diminish their quality. They carry elements of the hazy atmosphere from the rest of the album, thus helping the album stake out a unique, self-contained atmosphere throughout. The exception is “I Can Be A Frog,” which features silly animal noises and squeals from Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and easily would have fit in better on one of the Lips’ last three albums than the present collection.
Standout tracks include “See the Leaves,” “Worm Mountain” and “Silver Trembling Hands.” All maintain the Kraut-psych groove of the rest of the album, but “Worm Mountain” — which features instrumental performances and back-up vocals from the band MGMT — is generally more rhythmically bombastic and in-your-face than the rest of the tracks. “Silver Trembling Hands” features a muscular-bass rhythm during the verses, which gives way to a gorgeous vocal melody and futuristic video game sounding jazz synthesizers during the chorus that are somehow reminiscent of moments on “Yoshimi.”
So, to return to the elephant in the room — that impossible question, “Is this album as good as the band’s prior artistic peaks?” To this reviewer’s mind, the answer is, “absolutely, yes.” The one stipulation is that the listener must be absolutely willing to abandon any thoughts of what The Flaming Lips should sound like. Instead, simply revel in the hazy trance of this vivacious band’s unique world for a full 71 minutes.
Grade: A-
