At War With the Mystics
July 4, 2007
"At War With the Mystics," by The Flaming Lips
Warner Bros., 2006
After two albums of transcendental pop music concept albums, it might have slipped most people's minds that the Lips started as an acid-soaked punk band. Harking back more to their earlier sound, "AWWTM" can be a little off-putting to those who got into the band through "Soft Bulletin" or "Yoshimi." But even though the overall feel is less cohesive and the sound lacks the depth of the last two albums, this is hardly a step back. "The Sound of Failure/It's Dark...Is It Always This Dark??" is pure pop beauty with its stuttering guitar line and absorbing melodies; "Mr. Ambulance Driver" builds a classic song structure around a sample of a siren; "The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat)" is a wonderful head rush of sound, and so forth. While the previous two albums seemed like a slightly more spaced out, cheerful version of Radiohead, this album has "Saucerful of Secrets" era Pink Floyd as a touchstone, combined with the songcraft they've developed over the years. It's an engaging piece of work from one of the best bands around.
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