The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips

At War with the Mystics

(Warner Brothers)

4 Stars



It’s been 23 years and 12 LPs since the formation of cult favorites the Flaming Lips, and they now beg the question: will they ever disband? They’ve survived the departure of countless musicians, the Death Cabesque threat of overexposure after a Beverly Hills 90210 cameo, and the ignominy of touring as second-fiddle to an up-and-coming Beck. Not to mention heavy drug use, which nearly resulted in the loss of drummer Steven Drozd’s hand.

Surely much of the wacky Flaming Lips legend is apocryphal (were their first instruments really stolen from a church?), but it’s still hard to deny that you’re going to need kryptonite to stop these guys from releasing albums. Their latest is called “At War With The Mystics,” and fans will be pleased to hear that the Oklahoma City-based goofballs are still crazy after all these years. Maybe a little less crazy than usual, however, because they’ve released one of their most accessible works to date.

This is due in large part to the fact that “Mystics” boasts some undeniably catchy tunes. The Lips have retained the lush electronic orchestration they experimented with on their most recent albums, “The Soft Bulletin” and “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” but this time they’ve married it to pop grooves that hook harder than most of their previous outings.

There’s always been a hint of nostalgia to the Lips’ psychedelic flavor, but there’s nothing subtle about the ’70s references on “Mystics.” Both “The Wizard Turns On” and “Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung” would have settled comfortably into the middle of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” and songwriter and vocalist Wayne Coyne mimics McCartney pop on the closing “Goin’ On.”

However, “Mystics” is also rooted in the present. It contains the most nakedly political sentiments the Lips have ever committed to tape. Anti-Bush rhetoric abounds on the jangly “Haven’t Got A Clue,” on which Coyne sings “Every time you state your case / the more I want to punch your face.” The spare but anthemic “Free Radicals” tells of an imagined conversation with a suicide bomber. And the rollicking first single, “The W.A.N.D.,” angrily implores listeners to wrest power away from Bush by using magic wands.

As always, the Lips give voice to a great deal of philosophical anxiety. On gloomy “The Sound Of Failure,” Coyne takes on Gwen Stefani and Britney Spears for their don’t-worry-be-happy pop inanity. “Mr. Ambulance Driver” finds its protagonist hoping help arrives before a dying loved one expires.

Despite the temporal confusion, the Lips make it work: “Mystics” is a remarkably sure-footed album, one that’s not quite normal but still tremendously infectious. It’s hard to think of another modern rock band that’s been as adventurous and important as the Lips for so long. Here’s to another 23 years of weirdness.