Review Summary: The Flaming Lips have entered themselves on the ballot, along with Radiohead as becoming the modern day Pink floyd
Every so often, entertainment fully achieves what it set it out to do; move us in some way. A magnificently sad movie ends and we find our cheek wet with legitimate tears, or a play makes your heart skip a beat in excitement at the sheer spectacle of it all. My most recent entertainment jolt did not have to do with either of the formerly mentioned productions, as it came in the form of an album. Ultimately, a music album is a simple collection of songs, yet there are times when an artist carefully and ever so eloquently crafts an album where it becomes an oddity and something much more important. I am discussing the newest Flaming Lips’ album, “Embryonic”. To call myself an avid Flaming Lips fan prior to the release of their newest disc would be a bold faced lie. I have always seen them to be a great, innovative band, and have written some songs that I have absolutely adored. Their form of orchestral, emotional pop on 1999’s “Soft Bulletin” was nothing short of brilliant while 2002’s “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” was a wonderful exercise in electro-dream pop that only the Lips can call their own. All of that having been said, I purchased their newest album on a whim, and I’m hard pressed to say it may be one of the most extraordinary pieces of music my ears have ever been graced with.
The hyperbolic nature of this statement may offend or confuse some, but it is nothing but the truth as I have never witnessed such a cathartic musical journey. “Embryonic” is an album built for the music lover in the truest sense. It clocks in at a whopping 71 minutes consisting of 18 tracks, and that’s not even to mention how exhausting the music can be at times. The Flaming Lips are a band who in the past, would often rely on light strings, electric undercurrents, and front mad man Wayne Coyne’s southern coo paining a vivid picture over it all. 2009 is the year finding them regenerating their sound yet again. Replacing the pop structures are heavily distorted bass lines, booming, yet somehow subtle drums, and Wayne’s distinct vocals are usually washed up in reverb or sung through a synthesizer. Only a handful of songs find the vocals front and center, but these are here to merely remind you it is still the Flaming Lips you’re listening to.
Another distinct detour in sound is how angry and aggressive this album is at times. It is not angry in the sense of Rage Against the Machine, as this is still the Oklahoma neo-psyche rockers we all know and love, but it makes anger an art form. The album is crafted in a very claustrophobic manner, as the songs feel tight and uncomfortable, yet even at the album’s loudest moments you still find yourself being hypnotized. Take track two for example, “The Red Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine.” The song is driven by the same fuzzy, distorted bass, while the drums rumble aggressively behind it. A guitar jab comes in every few seconds, striking a down chord creating an overall darker sounding song until Coyne’s vocals finally make their entrance. He sings in a dreamy falsetto over all of the chaos with lines such as “what does it mean? To dream what you dream? What does it mean? To believe what you see?”There’s nothing extraordinarily ground breaking in the words, yet you really will not even notice over the breathtaking collage of sounds going on. This is just one example, as literally all 18 songs create moments like this. It’s an angry and raw album, yet still manages to remain ethereal and dreamlike for the entire time.
Some complaints directed at their newest magnum opus is the lack of any real pop single or hook. Undoubtedly there is nothing here as catchy or anthem like as “Do You Realize??” from ‘Yoshimi’. While some may want that one popular song to glue the album together, I find that’s where the beauty in the album lies. The Flaming Lips interestingly enough in their past, were a band that prided themselves on writing a delicious pop single that could be shouted by the crowd at concerts, yet this album finds them completely devoid of anything remotely catchy or recognizable. That having been said, they still manage to create some of the most beautiful, melodic music I have ever heard. Not to mention somewhat seductive at times, as opener “Convinced of the Hex” builds on the same high pitched guitar jabs over a 1960’s psychedelic bass line for its four minute duration, radiating the feeling of a dance song from hell. The loud moments are louder as well, as “See the Leaves” and “Worm Mountain” both churn out confrontational riffs, yet never finding Wayne’s vocals resembling anything too aggressive. Both songs also showcase another one of the miniscule highlights on this gem, in the drumming.
“Embryonic” contains ridiculous drumming, yet you would find that difficult to believe until you put on a decent pair of headphones. The drumming is as I said simply amazing, driving the heavier songs, and sometimes just adding streams of noise to scare the listener. Yet, the mixing and production of the album find the drums in the background. At times the drums are only being played out of one speaker and even then they sound toned down. I must admit that this was a point of frustration upon my first couple listens, as I radiate towards drums when it comes to rock instruments, yet over time I found it be yet another mark of originality. They don’t overpower the songs that they appear on, yet the primal beats that are present always provide a sturdy backbone to these overtly psychedelic masterpieces. I noted “songs that they appear on” because many songs on the album lack drums entirely. The interesting part about this is that even the songs without drums don’t feel any “softer” and even at times are more uncomfortable and intriguing. The song “Evil” is built on a simple synthesizer and keyboard riff, with Wayne singing some of his more introspective lyrics on the album. The song floats along for the first two and half minutes resonating a beautiful 70’s pop feel, before the keyboard and synthesizer collapse upon themselves. For nearly thirty seconds, there is an intense sound mixed with distortion of what sounds like a large piece of machinery starting up, all the while the song is slowly finding its feet again. The remainder of the song does not rely on the keyboard or the synthesizer, as the robotic crunch provides the back beat, with Wayne still calmly singing over it all.
Extraordinary moments like this are a dime a dozen on this album, and I could literally go on all day and note each individual one. I have only been blessed with this kind of musical euphoria a few times in my life prior to this, and I cannot get over how diverse, beautiful, evil, mysterious, and even sexy this album is. When I throw out the term ‘diverse’, I am not using it lightly in this sense either. “I Can Be A Frog” is a two minute pop song played on a keyboard, complete with Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs making animal noises. “Powerless” is a seven minute, bass driven psychedelic trip that would make Pink Floyd proud, while on the other hand the album closer, “Watching The Planets” is a thick, rollicking song complete with the heaviest drumming on the album, with guitars and bass chugging along next to it, creating an atmosphere only bands of Led Zeppelin’s stature have dreamed of crafting. I am here to say that this is a perfect album; it does not contain 18 perfect songs, as a few of them (“Scorpio Sword”, “Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast”, “Aquarius Sabotage”) merely seem to serve as trippy interludes, maybe being offsetting to some, yet in the grand scheme of the album and how it is structured, these aforementioned songs are wholly necessary. This finds the Lips, or any band for their matter, at their most primal, cathartic stage, yet it still retains a pop sentiment and creates an absolute perfect 70 minutes of music. I have now seen the light, and I hope you will come join me soon.
Recommended Tracks:
“The Red Sparrow Looks Up At the Machine”
“Evil”
“See the Leaves”
“Powerless”
“The Ego’s Last Stand”
“Worm Mountain”
“Silver Trembling Hands”
“Watching the Planets”
