at a glance...

Hometown: Oklahoma City, OK
Year Formed: 1984

Members:
Steven Drozd -drums, vocals, guitars
Michael Ivins -bass, vocals, guitars
Ronald Jones -guitars, effects, vocals
Wayne Coyne -vocals, guitars

Bands In The Family:
Mercury Rev
Those Bastard Souls

Notes:
Wayne Coyne started The Flaming Lips with his older brother Mark in 1984, with Mark soon departing. They released a serious of demented, off-kilter psychedelic pop albums with excessively long titles. In 1991 they signed with Warner Brothers and released several demented, off-kilter psychedelic pop albums with slightly shorter titles. In 1994 "She Don't Use Jelly" somehow landed them in the Top 40, all over MTV and on "Beverly Hills 90210." The insanity of Clouds Taste Metallic saw the Lips recede back into obscurity, a position consolidated by the release of Zaireeka, an album recorded in four-part sound which required four stereos and allowed for on-the-fly mixing by the listener. They returned in 1999 with the orchestral, ambitious The Soft Bulletin, which received glowing praise from critics.

Clouds Taste Metallic is a silly title. Songs like "This Here Giraffe" and "Brainville" are damn silly. Singer Wayne Coyne even has silly hair. Bassist Michael Ivins has even sillier hair.

The Flaming Lips are the only exception to the rule that "funny" rock bands suck. Because the Lips are funny like that guy on acid at the frat party, looking at the floor and giggling. You don't understand what he's saying, but he's definitely having more fun than you.

When they rock into, ahem, "Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus With Needles," you know that the Lips are having fun. It's got the toddler's energy of the Foo Fighters' "This Is A Call" with even more inane lyrics, and a deep, twisted crunch.

It's the richness of The Flaming Lips' sound that redeems even the silliest of Coyne's lyrical conceits. So lines that should sound twee and ridiculous ("Where does outer space end?/ Sort of hard to imagine" Coyne warbles on "Placebo Headwound") come wrapped in protective layers of treated guitar and gentle melody. Before you know it, you'll be grinning and chanting "Evil will prevail in the end!"

No, it's not part of some satanic mescaline ritual. It's the chorus to the penultimate song. Silly, but true.

If you like The Flaming Lips, check out:
The Flaming Lips In A Priest Driven Ambulance
The Flaming Lips Hit To Death In The Future Head
The Flaming Lips Transmissions From The Satellite Heart
The Flaming Lips Zaireeka
The Flaming Lips The Soft Bulletin
The Beatles The Beatles
The Boo Radleys C'Mon Kids
Pink Floyd Piper at the Gates of Dawn

-- jf