Without all your bodyguards, how long would you last? Not long!
At War with the Mystics is quite good, but unfortunately it stands in the long shadow cast by 2002's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.
I particularly liked the song "Free Radicals". The Flaming Lips are masters of the pause and unexpected, quirky repeats in their songs. "Free Radicals" is a great example of this technique.
The chorus is pretty straight-forward:
You think you're radicalThere are pregnant pauses, while Wayne Coyne lets it sink in - to the egotistical figure (Beck, presumably) he's singing to. There are some very funny, unexpected moments, such as the background singers' delivery, and some great zooming psychedelic noises that punctuate the words.
But you're not so radical
In fact, you're fanatical (fanatical!)
And you think you're a radical
But you're not so radical
In fact you're just Fanatical! Fanatical!!!
In contrast to the simple words and repetition of the chorus, there are clever zingers sandwiched in between. "You're turning into a poor man's Donald Trump" and "Without all your bodyguards… How long would you last (not long)" are my favorites.
But what really impresses me is that The Flaming Lips are willing to warp the song by inserting long pauses, pushing the format of what a song is out to the borders. Any other band would've sped up "Free Radicals" to make it more catchy and an easy favorite track, but not The Flaming Lips; that takes real confidence.
The result is "Free Radicals" is more than just a telling-off song—it's an experiment in stretching the parameters of what a song is. And that's the difference between a good Indie band and a great Indie band.
Flickr photos
Photo: garretkeogh
Links
CD review: The Flaming Lips, At War with the Mystics
Blog entry: "The Flaming Lips"
Indie Music Poll: If The Flaming Lips went to Disneyland, what would be their favorite ride?
Image credit: Flaming Lips playing brass instruments from the band's My Space page.
Note: Links updated to point to where reviews are now housed.
2 comments:
Bit of a Sgt. Pepper vibe on that image, no?
It's a much more conventional song, but I've always thought the pauses at the end of the choruses in Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) were very brave—stopping the music dead for several seconds?—and very effective. It'd be a lot less memorable without them.
(Filed also under memorable pauses: Queen's Bicycle Race. "Bicycle, bicycle, bicycle RACE!" Ching-ching, ching-ching.)
"Bit of a Sgt. Pepper vibe on that image, no?"
Yep. I think it's great how they dress up in silly costumes and don't take themselves too seriously.
Re: "Make Me Smile" - in agreement there, the pauses - and they are rather long - make the song more memorable.
It must feel wrong to a band to have dead silence - counter-intuitive. But it's very effective and quite brave, too.
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